Results 5,121-5,140 of 20,049 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: 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, in consultation with the relevant education partners and the Health Service Executive (HSE). This includes the establishment of special class and special school placements in various geographical areas...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The school to which the Deputy refers applied for funding under My Department’s Emergency Works Scheme. This application has been examined and recently approved. The school has been notified of this approval.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 498 and 503 together. The Department of Education is committed to supporting the emotional well-being of our children and I am very pleased to provide an update on the significant progress that has been made on Strands 1 and 2 of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot in over 650 primary schools across the country. I am also delighted to announce that my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: As Minister for Education, I believe it is crucially important that children and young people are actively supported to access education in its fullest forms. This Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families. As part of Budget 2023, I announced a major investment of over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential. Participation in school activities such as drama, music, and educational and cultural school trips is an important factor in the education of children and young people in Ireland. Building on the success of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The area of wellbeing and the promotion of positive mental health is a priority for the Department of Education. The Department of Education’s approach to supporting wellbeing and mental health is set out in its Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice. The approach in the Wellbeing Policy is founded on research and best international practice in relation to how schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: 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. €20 million in funding was issued during the mid-term break last term, to support all recognised primary and post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. This funding is the first tranche of an overall additional €60...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils traveling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils traveling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers to other schools that have vacancies. Thereafter, schools are required under the panel arrangements to fill permanent vacancies from supplementary panels comprised of eligible fixed-term (temporary/substitute) and part-time teachers. The redeployment arrangements are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The school to which the deputy refers has recently applied for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS). This application is currently being assessed by the Professional & Technical (P&T) side of the EWS team. My Department is aware of the urgent nature of the works and the school will be kept informed throughout this process.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that approval under the Additional School Accommodation scheme has issued to the school in question for the provision of two projects. The first project, for a Mainstream Modular classroom, is being delivered under the Department’s Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme. This programme provides project management supports to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The school referred to by the Deputy is included in my Department’s Construction Programme. The brief for this project is to provide a new 8 classroom primary school and accommodation, including 2 classrooms, for children with special educational needs. The project will be delivered under my Department's ADAPT Programme which uses a professional external Project Manager to co-ordinate...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The project to which the Deputy refers, was approved a project to cater for a school with 1,300 students, which was devolved for delivery to Dublin Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB). My Department officials have met with DDLETB in order to review significant technical challenges identified on the site and to assist DDLETB progress the project forward. DDLETB are now...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy that the purpose of my Department's Additional School Accommodation (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 at other schools in an area. Where there is a need for accelerated...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Meetings (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The ETBsNPA initially requested a meeting in April 2023 and has since followed up on this request on two further occasions. As advised to the ETBsNPA in response, my Department is in the process of arranging a meeting with the National Parents Council Post Primary to finalise a number of outstanding issues. Once these matters are resolved, the Department intends to meet, as appropriate, with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The School to which the Deputy refers, was approved a project under my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme to provide a one classroom SEN base and one SET room. The project has been devolved to the school authority for delivery. My Department has received a Stage 2b (post planning approval) report from the school. This report is currently under review from both a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has no current record of receiving an application for additional accommodation from the school in question. The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (or ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Research and Development (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The work of my Department in North-South and all-island issues feeds into the Education Sectoral meetings under the North-South Ministerial Council. There is currently no ongoing research commissioned by my Department in this area. Substantial research in the North-South space is funded under the Shared Island Fund. My Department liaises with the Shared Island Unit of the Department of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (17 Jan 2024)

Norma Foley: The project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB) and is part of a campus project. The project is currently at Stage 2a (detailed design) of the architectural design process. GRETB have advised that they expect to be in a position to submit the Stage 2a Report to the Department for review in Quarter 1,...