Results 3,221-3,240 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Schools Administration (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: It is important to ensure that appropriate governance arrangements are in place for transparency and accountability in the management of public money. All boards of management of schools, therefore, are obliged to comply with section 18 of the Education Act 1998 and the arrangements set out in my Department’s Circular 0060/2017 and Circular 0002/2018 on the operation of the financial...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: As the Deputy is aware, Dunboyne College of Further Education is currently located in a number of rented buildings and prefab accommodation at Dunboyne Business Park. The Department approved stand-alone status to the college in 2015. It has 800 students. Prior to achieving stand-alone status, the college was considered part of St. Peter’s College post-primary school. Louth Meath...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I appreciate that the frustration here is over the timeline. In May 2018, Department officials gave approval to LMETB to advertise to seek expressions of interest for a suitable site to accommodate Dunboyne College of Further Education, requiring that any identified sites be technically appraised and that the reports of the technical appraisal be made available to my Department. In...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I thank Deputy Burton for raising this matter and appreciate what she is trying to do and how she is trying to move it forward. We in this House can pretend that one plus one equals four. The Deputy can claim that the Government is not committed to further education and training, but there was no capital plan for further education and training when she was in government. There never was....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Acquisitions of such magnitude must be carefully considered and any curricular requirement for land above what would be typically provided for a further education college must be assessed in the general context of further education.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Teachers' Remuneration (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: At a broader level, there are no unnecessary delays for the payment of teachers on payrolls operated by my Department. Some 120,000 payees are paid fortnightly. The process for the payment of an individual teacher is that the managerial authority of a school submits the application form to my Department to enable payment to be set up. The application form must confirm that a teacher is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I have met the principal, staff, some of the parents and some of the young people. It was a devastating day and they were still in shock yesterday. Out of the ashes they will rebuild. There was a lot of community fundraising for the new library so it was an especially difficult day. The mother of one of the teachers, Gráinne Campbell, whom I did not meet, sent a message last night to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education Policy (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputy for the question. Rural schools make up the majority of our primary school sector, with almost 2,000 out of just over 3,100 schools. As such, I fully recognise their value to communities throughout the country. They provide a vital link to local heritage and history, help sustain rural populations and often act as a link for sports and social activity. The majority...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education Policy (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Deputy used the phrase "joined-up thinking". Obviously, this has to happen at an interdepartmental level, which is why I was anxious to have the Minister, Deputy Ring, at the symposium on small schools. When we speak about rural development and regional development, it is important that we have somebody of his stature in the equation. Small schools, whether they are in urban or rural...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education Policy (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputy for his comments. Something that is very helpful in ongoing discussions in the primary sector is the primary forum, where all of the stakeholders are around the table. It is very important and it is a forum I certainly value. It is a model that we must continue to use, and we must ensure we keep the communication lines with it open. Politicians get things wrong and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Staff (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I appreciate the extent of the contribution they make. That is important because this is an important issue and an issue I want to work on. I assume the issue of the 72 hours has been raised through the forum that has been set up. I also want to point out that young students do not differentiate between SNAs and teachers. They know now they are part of an all-inclusive school model....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Staff (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Acting Chairman is wile hard on me today.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Staff (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I apologise.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: We have made a little bit of progress but it is not at the level I would have liked. The budget is not reflective of where I would like to be as Minister for Education and Skills, but it is reflective of where we are at a given point in time. Since we started here today, I do not know where we are in the conversation that is ongoing across the water, but hopefully we will get into a better...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: To answer the Deputy's last question, I certainly did ask for a lot more money than I got and I battled it out. The line was clear that we were working within a threshold and that is why I wanted to ensure all the front-line services, especially special education, were protected. I am a year in the job this week and I have realised that the primary school sector and the pupil-teacher ratio...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I am happy to provide an update on the seven schools and classes. The situation is fluid, with training ongoing to ensure that teachers and staff are enabled and equipped to carry out these duties. For example, the special school is down to the final checklist to make sure it is ready. The feedback from people involved in the special school was that the training provided to the staff to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Charges are being levelled but let us be honest about what exactly is happening. The figures that we have are that, since this time last year, we have an additional 1,064 places in 167 extra classes. That figure has gone up to almost 1,600. I needed to ensure, in the context of the budget, that I protected the extra SNAs. We had 16,000 SNAs before the budget and we now have an additional...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Inclusion means that the child is at the heart of everything. Parents are still struggling to get their young sons and daughters into classes and I am willing to meet that challenge head on.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Deputy levelled a charge against me in respect of the past year. There are more than 1,000 extra places, 167 extra classes and 1,000 extra SNAs.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Staff (17 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Special education is a priority, as outlined in the previous answer. The Department's policy aims to ensure that all children with special needs can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in mainstream school settings, and where parents have chosen for the child to go to special classes, for which there are 125 facilities in total in the country, that choice is...