Results 21-40 of 15,342 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Meals Programme (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The funding and policy for the School Meals Programme is under the responsibility of the Department of Social Protection. I fully support the objective of the School Meals Programme, which is a vital component of cross departmental policies, which encourage school attendance and educational achievement. The rollout of a breakfast club under the School Meals Programme to the school in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The project referred to by the Deputy will deliver a new 8 classroom primary school and accommodation, including 2 classrooms for children with special educational needs. The tender report has been received and is currently under analysis and review. Upon completion of that review, a tender assessment report will be prepared by the Design Team for my Department’s consideration. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: This Government is fully committed to ensuring that every child has a positive school experience, with access to qualified and engaged teachers who are dedicated to supporting their learning. Like many sectors, recruitment challenges exist in the education sector. To address teacher supply issues, my Department has implemented several measures that have led to:an increase of 20% in Initial...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Programme for Government commits to seeking to increase choice for parents by ensuring that families can access both multi/non-denominational and faith-based education. For historical reasons, most primary schools are State-aided parish schools, with the local Bishop as patron. It is recognised, including by the Catholic patrons, that more diverse provision is required to cater for our...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Complaints Procedures (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: Under the Education Act 1998 the Board of Management of a school is the body charged with the direct governance of a school and it is the Board of Management which employs the staff at the school. The Board of Management is accountable to the Patron of the school. Whereas the Department of Education provides funding and policy direction for schools, the Department, does not have the power...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Equipment (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, my predecessor issued a letter to all schools advising that they restrict the use of mobiles phones by students during the school day, as a complementary wellbeing measure. To support schools to implement this policy approach, funding was allocated in Budget 2025 for the provision of mobile phone storage solutions for students in post-primary schools. Guidance...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the body with the statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland including the registration of teachers in the state. It is a function of the Council under the Teaching Council Acts (s7(2)) to act as the competent authority for recognition of qualifications obtained by a person...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ministerial Responsibilities (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Education (Delegated Ministerial Functions) Order 2025 was signed on 15th April 2025, delegating certain powers and functions related to special education and inclusion and school transport to Minister Michael Moynihan, TD, Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early School Leavers (7 May 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)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day-to-day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Correspondence (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The correspondence referred to are applications to the Supplementary Panel. The Supplementary Panels are used to fill permanent teaching vacancies, once all surplus permanent teachers have been redeployed from the Main Redeployment Panel. The closing date for Supplementary Panel applications is December each year. Teachers who applied to the 2024/25 Supplementary Panel in December 2023,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and Special Education Needs (SEN) accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation. I wish to assure the Deputy that the provision of appropriate accommodation for pupils with special education needs is an absolute...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question. The purpose of the Additional Schools' Accommodation scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education classroom accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year and where...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Cycling Facilities (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The information requested by the Deputy on the number of Cycle to Work scheme applications processed by my Department for Department staff is in the table below. YEAR Department Staff 2020 63 2021 77 2022 42 2023 48 2024 62 In addition, my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: Under the Constitution, the provisions of article 44 recognise the rights of children to attend school without attending religious instruction at that school. Furthermore the provisions of Section 30(2) (e) of the Education Act 1998 provide that a school shall not require a student to attend instruction in any subject which is contrary to the conscience of the parent / guardian of the student...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The estimated cost of increasing the primary school capitation grant by €75 per pupil from €224 to €299 for the period 1 September to 31 December would be an additional 13.4 million. The estimated additional cost of maintaining such an increase for a full year, from 1 January to 31 December 2027 would be a further 26.6 million. The Department is committed to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: At primary level, teachers are allocated to schools at an average of 1 classroom teacher for every 23 pupils, the lowest level ever seen at primary level. DEIS Urban Band 1 schools receive an average allocation of 17:1, 21:1 and 19:1 for junior, senior and vertical schools respectively. Each 1 point reduction in the staffing schedule at primary level for DEIS and non-DEIS schools requires...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The sraith pictiúr, or picture sequences, are a component of the common Irish Oral test for Higher Level and Ordinary Level candidates, with the Oral test accounting for 40% of the overall marks for Leaving Cert Irish. In response to issues highlighted in National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta Gaelscolaíochta (COGG) research...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (7 May 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 school referred to by the Deputy has a current mainstream staffing of Administrative Principal and 8 classroom teachers. On the basis of the increase in enrolments in September 2024,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: Teaching allocations are determined by the enrolment of the school on the previous 30th September. This process enables the Department to have in place the necessary measures to assess the accuracy of returns and thereby strengthen the integrity of the resource allocation process and the equitable treatment of schools, whilst ensuring that publicly funded resources are properly allocated. ...