Results 5,741-5,760 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: Every new major capital build will have a PE hall. Schools are already expressing interest that they want to have PE halls prioritised in the new ten-year capital plan. That is something-----
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: Some PE halls because of their state of repair will need roof replacement and some will need upgrade. It is not all new buildings; many schools within the 2016-21 capital programme will get extensions or additional accommodation and part of that solution will also be PE halls.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: Yes. The schools are already applying to get on the list for the next capital plan. One of the-----
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: A school not covered by the 2016-21 capital plan will need to look to the next capital plan if it wants a PE hall in its school. I am conscious that there are schools throughout the country that want a solution before 2021, 2022 or 2023. We need to work collectively on prioritisation of that. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked about secretarial and caretaking staff. Many of those are paid for...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: That will be in the context of the budget. I am conscious that the day-to-day running of schools, including things such as oil, is a big issue. The 5% increase in capitation was a start in the right direction. I am conscious that it certainly is not far enough. Improvements to the caretakers and secretaries grant were made in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to enable schools to implement the...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputies for their questions and observations. I will start with Deputy Funchion's queries. We covered transportation but I will give her a few figures. She asked about the amount of money involved yearly. The cost of the school transport scheme in 2018 amounted to €200 million. This is an increase from over €171 million in 2011. The main reason for this...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: Yes.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: Yes, at the end of 2020. It may be that there are things that can be done within the existing framework. Obviously, I respect collective bargaining. It has got teachers to a position now where the starting salary for a teacher in 2020 will be almost €38,000. The salary of 2011 entrants will be upwards of €53,000 this year. However, I am conscious of the fact that they took...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: I am under no illusion there. If there is a maths teacher in a base school on 12 hours and the whole school is looking for seven hours, common sense can be applied and joined-up thinking can be engaged in. Principals who spot that opportunity will go for it. Having spoken to them, I know it is about timetabling. If there are distances involved, the teacher has to be compensated for the...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: I can get the Deputy that number.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: The Deputy referred to funding for well-being. She also welcomed the ten additional educational psychologists and asked if there would be more. I hope we will be in a position to roll out more support. If we are serious about developing the inclusion model we must examine more supports around that. Finally, the Deputy referred to the history review.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: I committed to carrying out the history review towards the end of last year on the basis that there was a big conversation about it. I was meeting people on the street who randomly approached me to talk about history. They were not just history teachers, history fanatics or people who would have studied history. There has been a big change in the way we look at history in the last four to...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: My predecessors were involved in the junior certificate curriculum changes. In fairness, it was a very difficult job, and I am not just saying that because Deputy Jan O'Sullivan is sitting in front of me. It met with a great deal of resistance and much of that was justifiable. Teachers were trying to figure out how they could be fair and how they could ensure they would be able to continue...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: No. I am open to helping the junior certificate embed itself. It has been a massive change. Many teachers are still grappling with the new syllabi and curriculum. Much of it is continuous assessment and there is a new dynamic. The last thing I want to do is create another sense of flux around it. That is why I was very careful to state that history was the one for review. That is all I...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: I have a responsibility to listen.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: No, I will not, out of respect for collective bargaining. There are processes. In the recent discussions involving the nurses my colleagues were anxious and adamant that whatever changes or proposals were made they would be made within the mechanism of collective bargaining. I respect that process and I would not make any suggestions.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: As stated earlier, there is price inflation and there is no question about this. Somebody who built a house ten years ago would not have got the same price they would get today. The focus and the priority of the Department are to ensure that we finish out the 2016 to 2021 capital plan. This is where our focus lies and we will do it in the most economical and efficient way possible. We are...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: I do not think so.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: We have the summer works scheme, emergency accommodation and all of the works that can lead to additional accommodation, such as small extensions to classrooms. We obviously have price inflation and an increase in land prices so we will have increased pressure on prices. Will this have an effect on the output and delivery of additional places? Yes, it will.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Joe McHugh: There will be massive pressure in urban areas on the secondary school system. The numbers that required the increase of extensions in classrooms in the primary school sector will move into the secondary sector. I am under no illusion that urban areas, which do not necessarily have to be on the east coast or in the Deputy's constituency-----