Results 321-340 of 6,570 for speaker:Michael Moynihan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an appropriate education is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for me, my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The NCSE is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. Deputies are welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. I have forwarded this issue to them for their attention and direct reply. Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line at . Parents seeking special class placements for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. I have forwarded this issue to them for their attention and direct reply. Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line at . The NCSE advise that the special needs assistant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport 2030 report was published in early 2024 following a comprehensive analysis and review of the scheme as it currently operates. The recommended changes to the future operation of the schemes include expansion of the current eligibility criteria, addressing current operational challenges and moving towards better integration with public transport to ensure the best value for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The government is committed to the provision of additional special school places for children with more complex educational needs. Over 300 new special school places have been provided for the 2025/26 school year. Five new special schools are being established in addition to the eleven new special schools opened over the last few years. Special school capacity is also being expanded across a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the national agency with responsibility for the provision of special education places. This year the NCSE has sanctioned 407 new special classes for the 2025/26 school year bringing to 3,741 the number of special classes in our schools. There are new classes in every county in Ireland and with the number of special classes doubling in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Over 148,000 tickets have issued to date for the 2025/26 school year, which is more than 5% more than the same time last year. Bus Éireann is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes. Bus Éireann endeavours, within...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 791, 792, 793 and 794 together. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory agency with responsibility for the provision of special education places. The NCSE is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised.] Under Section 67 of the Education Act, the NCSE have the statutory power to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport 2030 report was published in early 2024 following a comprehensive analysis and review of the scheme as it currently operates. The recommended changes to the future operation of the schemes include expansion of the current eligibility criteria, addressing current operational challenges and moving towards better integration with public transport to ensure the best value for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Bus Eireann has advised that a school transport service for the children of the families referred to is in operation from the commencement of the 2025/26 school year and tickets have been issued. Under the current terms of the School Transport...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: In 2025 over €2.9 billion will be spent supporting children with special educational needs. This figure builds on previous years and represents over a quarter of the education budget. It has provided for, amongst other things, 400 new special classes and 300 new special school places. It has also increased our special educational posts by 768 special education teacher and 1,600 special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. I have forwarded this issue to them for their attention and direct reply. Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line at .

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Over 148,000 tickets have issued for the 2025/26 school year to date, which is a 5% increase in the tickets issued at the same time last year. Due to the scale of the scheme, the changes as recommended in the review will take time and careful planning...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Under the current terms of the mainstream school transport scheme, children are eligible for transport at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: 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. This includes continuing to expand special education provision nationwide. 407 new special classes have been sanctioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: 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. As you are aware there are a number of cross-government initiatives supporting children with special educational needs. Initiatives such as the Autism Innovation Strategy and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Under the current terms of the mainstream school transport scheme, children are eligible for transport at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line at . If a school feels like it has insufficient special needs assistant (SNA) support to meet the needs of its students an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an appropriate education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for me, my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The NCSE has confirmed that a placement in a special class has been offered for the 2025/26 school year to the pupil referred to by the Deputy. The local special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I would like to thank the Deputy for his question. My department’s preference in relation to students with anxiety who are not attending school is, other than in exceptional circumstances, that they should be supported to attend their school in person. This is on the basis that the need to socialise and engage with their peers is best facilitated in person in school. While my...