Results 581-600 of 15,908 for speaker:Helen McEntee

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. About 172,000 young people access the school transport scheme. Many of those are children with additional needs. The programme for Government sets out very clearly that we will expand the scheme even further. There is no set timeline, and the expansion has to be done across the lifetime of the current Government, but we have set a very clear...

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

Helen McEntee: Tackling educational disadvantage and supporting students to fulfil their full potential in life is a key priority for my Department, and for the government. The DEIS programme is a key policy of government to tackle concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. It provides a targeted range of supports and is additional to the universal supports provided to all schools, such as the...

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

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, the current requirements for the mandatory ‘Tréimhse Foghlama sa Ghaeltacht’ or Gaeltacht Learning Periods (GLPs) for primary Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes takes the form of 2 x 2-week placements, which are outlined in the Teaching Council’s Céim: Standards for Initial Teacher Education. Budget 2020 provided for the...

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

Helen McEntee: The school to which the Deputy refers submitted an application for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) for an external environments project. The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies. It does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are in need of resources as a result of...

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

Helen McEntee: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. Providing inclusive education to children with special educational needs is a fundamental principle of my Department’s education and training system. This principle is put into practice through the policies of my Department and the Teaching Council and...

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...