Results 3,461-3,480 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Budget 2019 marks the third year of a major reinvestment in the education. In 2019, the budget for the Department of Education and Skills will increase by €674 million, a 6.7% increase on last year. In total, the Education budget will have increased by €1.7 billion compared to 2016. Budget 2019 will see numbers employed in our schools reach the highest ever level. Over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Recruitment (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for the individual school authority, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24(3) of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012). In accordance with Department Circular 31/ 2011, which is available on the Department’s website under , schools are required to employ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy has recently completed Stage 2(b) of architectural planning and has been progressed to tender stage. A tender stage normally takes between 7 and 8 months to complete.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Funding (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Budget 2019 marked the third year of a major reinvestment in education. The budget for the Department of Education and Skills has increased by €674 million this year, a 6.7% increase on last year. In total, the Education budget has increased by €1.7 billion compared to 2016. This school year sees the numbers employed in our schools reach the highest ever level. Over 1,300...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff Redeployment (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Civil Service mobility scheme comes under the remit of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and is administered through HR Shared Services. According to information available to HR officials in my Department, the person in question applied on the 27thof August 2018 for a transfer to Zone 16, which includes a number of Departments of which one is my Department’s Athlone...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Applications (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The school to which the Deputy refers was granted funding under the Additional Accommodation Scheme 2017 to build 3 Mainstream Classrooms with en-suite toilets,1 Assisted User WC and the removal of 1 prefabricated classroom. I am pleased to be able to inform the Deputy that the school was recently granted approval to proceed to the tender with this project.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions Staff (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Higher Educations Institutions have a duty of care to their staff and students, and a responsibility to foster a campus culture that is clear in the condemnation of unwanted and unacceptable behaviours. In April 2019, my Department published a Framework for Promoting Consent and Preventing Sexual Violence in Irish HEIs (Safe, Respectful, Supportive and Positive - Ending Sexual Violence...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Data (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I have asked my Department to collate the information requested by the Deputy and I will convey it to him when it is ready.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: €2.75m was allocated in Budget 2017 to restore middle management positions i.e. the equivalent of approximately 1,300 middle management posts (Assistant Principal I and Assistant Principal II) at both Primary and Post-Primary (2,600 in total). This measure allowed for the commencement of restoration of middle management posts as part of an agreed distributed leadership model and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Schemes (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Following on from the ECtHR judgment in the Louise O'Keeffe case, my Department is required to report to the Council of Europe on a biannual basis on the measures it has taken to implement the judgment. The latest Action Plan which will be filed in October provides information on the measures that have been taken to monitor child safeguarding issues. It also provides an update on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has a statutory function to plan and co-ordinate the provision of education and support services to children with special educational needs. This includes the establishment of special class and special school placements in various geographical areas where the NCSE identifies need. It is open to any school to make application to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of surplus permanent teachers to other schools where vacancies exist. The redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers is key to the Department's ability to manage within its payroll budget and ceiling on teacher numbers. At second-level, a voluntary redeployment scheme has operated on a pilot basis in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Health and Safety (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I propose to take Questions Nos. 93 to 95, inclusive, together. My Department’s overall capital budget increased by almost €200m between 2018 and 2019 (€745m to €941m). This increased capital budget is facilitating extensions and new schools being delivered as part of the rollout of Project Ireland 2040 along with significant progress being made in relation to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Enabling children with Special Educational Needs including Autism to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for me and the Government. Nearly one euro in every five of this budget, about €1.9 billion, is invested in supporting children with special educational needs in schools. Since 2011, the Government has increased the number of Special education teachers from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are recruited specifically to assist in the care of pupils with disabilities who have additional and significant care needs in an educational context. They may be appointed to a special school or a mainstream school to assist school authorities in making suitable provision for a pupil or pupils with special care needs. The first priority is that the care needs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I can confirm officials from my Department have been working to identify and procure a suitable site for the school to which the Deputy refers. A potential site option has been identified and this is currently under consideration. Once a suitable site has been acquired, my Department will be in a position to progress the project concerned into the architectural planning process. While a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Schemes (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 and 100 together. Compensation payments are being made to a number of victims of child sexual abuse in day schools on foot of the assessments made by the Independent Assessor to the ex gratia scheme, Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill. The current position is that sixteen offers of payment have been made and, to date, seven have been accepted.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: I propose to take Questions Nos. 101 to 103, inclusive, together. In November of last year I asked the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to carry out a review of the optional nature of history under the new Framework for Junior Cycle. I also asked the NCCA to identify how we can best promote the study of history in our schools. I received the NCCA's advisory report in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: As the Deputy is aware, the acquisition of a site for St. Michael's Special School is at an advanced stage of the conveyancing process. Due to commercial and legal sensitivities relating to site acquisitions generally I am not in a position to provide further details at this time. However, I can assure the Deputy that my officials are working to bring matters to a conclusion at the earliest...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (8 Oct 2019)

Joe McHugh: The school to which the Deputy refers was granted funding under the Additional Accommodation Scheme 2018 to build 2 Mainstream Classrooms with en-suite toilets. In addition, approval was granted to include a car park extension. The Department sought clarification in relation to some of the details included in the consultant’s report. When this information is received it will be...