Results 41-60 of 1,042,890 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Jennifer Carroll MacNeill OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Kieran O'Donnell)
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation (28 May 2024)
Bernard Durkan: Question No. 32 is in the name of the same Deputy. There might be a difficulty with the answer but we did not anticipate being so far advanced at this stage. The Minister is so efficient she is ahead of herself.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation (28 May 2024)
Norma Foley: I will have to speak more slowly.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
School Transport
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
Seán Canney: 32. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will instruct Bus Éireann to ensure school bus services are in place to deal with the demand for the commencement of the school year in August 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23809/24]
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
Seán Canney: The Chair has put me up again for Question No. 32. Has Bus Éireann been allocated the necessary resources to make sure there is the adequate number of buses and sizes of buses in place for the school year in September? Last year, we saw lots of problems arise. Buses were not in place, some started off and after a week they stopped. A lot went on and there was a lot of stress. It...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
Norma Foley: There are currently 161,000 young people transported every day via Bus Éireann. It is an enormous number and an important service. I have said previously in reply to other queries that planning for the 2024-25 school year begins in the previous year. It is well under way at this point. Applications for places on the buses opened in April and I think the closing date is around 7 June...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
Seán Canney: I thank the Minister. I know a lot of money and effort goes into it. At the end of the day, it is the inspectors on the ground who have to deal with parents and students who might have a ticket for a bus but there is no bus to bring them. The parents then have to try to get them to school and they have to go to work. In some cases, great work is done to try to rectify the situation under...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
Norma Foley: I do not underestimate the challenge it has posed for parents. Of the more than 161,000 young people transported, the vast majority were transported seamlessly and positively and it worked as it was supposed to. There were isolated instances here and there. I do not underestimate the difficulty that caused for parents and guardians, especially the last-minute nature. It is far from ideal....
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation (28 May 2024)
School Accommodation
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation (28 May 2024)
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: 22. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will urgently review the decision by her Department not to include a school (details supplied) in the school capital building programme. [23739/24]
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation (28 May 2024)
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: This question is around Scoil Mhuire National School in Milford, County Donegal. I discussed this matter with the Minister earlier in the year. This school is not fit for purpose in terms of the buildings, but in terms of education, it is the opposite. It offers a tremendous education but in conditions that are unacceptable. It is landlocked site and is very dangerous at the junction of...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation (28 May 2024)
Norma Foley: The school in question has received approval in principle for a building project under my Department’s additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme. The project will provide for two mainstream classrooms and two special education teaching rooms. This project is currently at stage 3, which is tender stage. The project is one of close to 90 projects with a total value of...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
Questions Nos. 17 to 21, inclusive, and 24 to 26, inclusive, taken with Written Answers.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
School Transport
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
David Stanton: 27. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current regulations with respect to students availing of school transport to a school which is their second-nearest school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23858/24]
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
David Stanton: This is a related question on school transport to give the Minister an opportunity to outline the current regulations with respect to students availing of school transport to a school which is their second-nearest school.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
Norma Foley: I will be repeating myself now. The school transport scheme is operated by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education, as we said. We have more than 161,600 young people availing of it. That figure is divided into children travelling on mainstream services and children with special educational needs who are travelling. The total cost of the scheme was in excess of...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
David Stanton: I commend the Minister on the work she is doing in this area because there is huge potential here. To clarify, is she saying students can actually avail of transport to the second-nearest school at second level? That is one question. Has the Minister looked at a similar situation applying to primary school students? That is my second question. I think I have time left to put a third...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. The second-nearest school scheme is called the temporary alleviation measure, TAMS. It is in place currently and will be in place for the 2024-25 school year. I want to be clear in explaining what the TAMS actually means. Under that measure, transport is provided where there is a route in operation and where capacity exists for concessionary post-primary pupils who are...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (28 May 2024)
David Stanton: I asked about the convoluted appeals system.