Results 441-460 of 17,498 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Abuse (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Deputy will be aware that a Commission of Investigation has been established by the Government to investigate the handling of historical child sexual abuse in all day and boarding schools, including schools run by the Christian Brothers. The Commission is independent in its operation and, when it is ready to begin its engagement with survivors of child sexual abuse in schools, this will...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered as part of my Department’s ADAPT Programme. The ADAPT Programme uses a professional external Project Manager to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of Architectural Planning to Tender and Construction. The brief for this major project is to provide a New...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: I wish to advise the Deputy that the requirement for school places is kept under on-going review in the context of available information on population, enrolments and residential development activity. In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the Teaching Council Registration Regulations, 2016. As set out in the Schedule of the Regulations, the Council registers teachers under five routes of registration: Route 1 - Primary, Route 2 - Post-primary, Route 3 - Further Education, Route 4 - Other and Route 5 - Student Teacher. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department is committed to providing schools at both primary and post-primary level with as much detail regarding grants, grant amounts and expected payment timeframes for each academic year in as far in advance as is practicable. For the 2025/26 academic year, officials in my Department are currently considering the presentation of schedules for grants that will include, as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department is committed to providing schools at both primary and post-primary level with as much detail regarding grants, grant amounts and expected payment timeframes for each academic year in as far in advance as is practicable. For the 2025/26 academic year, officials in my Department are currently considering the presentation of schedules for grants that will include, as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: Tackling education disadvantage and helping students reach their full potential is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth, and for the Government. Currently, the DEIS programme supports almost 1,200 primary and post-primary schools, reaching approximately 260,000 students, with an annual investment of over €180 million. As Minister, I am committed to narrowing the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Teaching Council, as the professional regulatory body for teaching, has statutory responsibility for the accreditation of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes and for the registration of primary and post-primary teachers. Revised standards for the accreditation of programmes of ITE, Céim – Standards for Initial Teacher Education, were published by the Teaching Council...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 332, 336 and 337 together. The Government is investing a record €11.8 billion into education and schools through Budget 2025. This record level of investment has allowed the Government to invest in tackling educational disadvantage and supporting those with special educational needs to achieve their full potential. It has enabled huge investment in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Government is committed to increasing funding to support schools and the Programme for Government commits to increasing capitation funding to schools of all types to ensure that schools can meet the elevated day-to-day running costs. The commitment in the Programme for Government builds on the progress which has been made in recent years, including an over €30 million permanent...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Programme for Government provides for a number of measures to support small schools, including introducing a new national small schools' project and trialling new administrative supports. The Government is very aware that small schools are an important part of the life of local communities. The current small schools' action research project established in 2021 is due to conclude at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: In the lead up to the Budget, my Department receives a number of pre-budget submissions from a range of different stakeholders in the education sector and from organisations involved in other areas of public policy including the INTO's pre-Budget submission. As in previous years, relevant submissions continue to be reviewed and they will inform the specific budgetary priorities that I will be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: This Government is 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. While the rate of unfilled teaching posts remains low, I recognise that as with other sectors, recruitment challenges exist in some schools. To support schools to address such issues, the Government has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: In the lead up to the Budget, my Department receives a number of pre-budget submissions from a range of different stakeholders in the education sector and from organisations involved in other areas of public policy. As in previous years, relevant submissions continue to be reviewed and they will inform the specific budgetary priorities that I will be seeking to achieve in Budget 2026. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Schooling (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has responsibility for the operation and delivery of the State examinations, and facilitates access to the examinations through its scheme of reasonable accommodations at the certificate examinations, otherwise known as the RACE scheme. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (23 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department uses external storage facilities to store non-current records and a limited stock of publications. The contract details and the costs involved in renting off site storage for my Department is a matter for the Property Management Section of the Office of Public Works (OPW), who act on behalf of my Department in relation to the rental of off-site storage. The figures shown...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (18 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy that the schools in question submitted applications for capital funding under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The purpose of my Department’s ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Health and Safety (18 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Safety, Health, and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299 of 2007) place an obligation on the employer, as soon as it is notified by the special needs assistant that she is pregnant, to assess any specific risk in the workplace to that special needs assistant and to ensure that the pregnant, post-natal, or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (18 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: This Government is 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. A range of measures have been introduced to support schools in their recruitment efforts. One such measure is the PME Fee Refund Scheme. The Department published Circular 0069/2024 Professional Master of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (18 Sep 2025)

Helen McEntee: My department is in receipt of an application, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme from the school referred to by the deputy.The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education classroom accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year and where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation or by...