Results 601-620 of 9,040 for speaker:Hildegarde Naughton

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Supplementary)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Supplementary) (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: There was also a pilot that was carried out. The new questions in the pilot included questions about where households, for example, park their cars, gender, sexual orientation, mental health and the way that third level qualifications were obtained. Following the learnings and the experiences of that pilot, further development of all census systems and procedures will commence. Now that...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Supplementary)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Supplementary) (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: There was a projected overrun on the general law expenses. The law costs subhead covers the payment of legal costs awarded by the courts in judicial review matters and other legal proceedings. The projected overrun of €400,000 in 2024 is principally due to an increased number of claims arising from a significant general increase in court activity in recent years. These cases were...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Supplementary)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Supplementary) (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: No. I may be able to get the most up to date figure if we have one.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Supplementary)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Supplementary) (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I will provide the Deputy with that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Supplementary)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Supplementary) (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: There has been an increased volume of work by this office in recent years. To give a taste of some of the activities, there was increased activity in the Central Criminal Court since 2019 and there has been a 149% increase in the number of court dates in the Central Criminal Court. The committee will be aware the Central Criminal Court deals with very serious offences, including murder and...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Supplementary)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Supplementary) (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Through the courts, yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Supplementary)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Supplementary) (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank Deputy O’Callaghan for his question. He is correct. During the financial downturn, a number of cuts were applied to counsel fee rates, including two separate reductions, which he referred to, 8% in March 2009 and April 2010, which mirrored cuts provided for by the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act. An additional reduction of 10% was applied from October...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Supplementary)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Supplementary) (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the committee for making time available today to consider this request for Supplementary Estimates. I am seeking a Supplementary Estimate a €400,000 for the Central Statistics Office in respect of Vote 4; €4.667 million for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in respect of Vote 5; and €3.58 million for the Chief State Solicitor's Office. A detailed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I want to thank the Deputy for this question. For 2025, the special education budget will be substantially increased by 6%, meaning that for 2025 the Department will spend over €2.9 billion on supporting children with additional needs. The 2025 budget provides funding for almost 44,000 qualified and committed people who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Special needs assistants (SNAs) play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs into mainstream education, special classes and special schools ensuring that these students can access an education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has advised...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: My department works closely with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) on the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places. In Budget 2025, funding was secured for up to 400 new special classes in mainstream schools, and an additional 300 special school places for the 2025/26 school year. This will deliver 2,700 new places for children. Almost...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: In June 2024 I announced the establishment of the Educational Therapy Support Service (ETSS), which will see the appointment, on a permanent basis, of 39 occupational and speech and language therapists, as well as 5 behaviour practitioners to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The expansion of therapy services within the NCSE is expected to build on the achievements and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: In June 2024 I announced the establishment of the Educational Therapy Support Service (ETSS), which will see the appointment, on a permanent basis, of 39 occupational and speech and language therapists. The cost of the expansion has been provided for in the NCSE budget and on this basis, the NCSE are fully funded to facilitate the recruitment of the additional therapists required from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: As the Deputy will be aware, almost 1,700 classes have been opened in the last 5 years and 11 new special schools have also been established and many more expanded. For this school year alone over 400 new special classes have been sanctioned bringing the total number of special classes nationwide to 3,337. 48 of these classes are in County Roscommon, 7 are new for the 2024/25 school year, 6...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 37 and 386 to 388, inclusive, together. Almost 1,700 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE in the last 5 years, and in this time 11 new special schools have also been established and many more expanded. For this school year alone over 400 new special classes have been sanctioned bringing the total number of special classes nationwide to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: My department works closely with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) on the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places. In Budget 2025 funding was secured for up to 400 new special classes in mainstream schools, and an additional 300 special school places for the 2025/26 school year. This will deliver 2,700 new places for children. Almost...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I want to thank the Deputy for the question. The Special Education Teaching model is an allocation model to provide schools with additional teaching hours to support the teaching needs of their students. When the 2017 model was introduced it replaced a diagnosis led model with one based on need. This has not changed for 2024 and the allocation to schools is to support all of the children...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I would like to thank the deputy for the question. The special education teaching allocation is an additional resource provided to schools and is ringfenced for the sole purpose of providing additional supports to young people with special educational needs. The importance of providing well-timed, appropriate and targeted support to young people with Special educational needs is crucial to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I would like to thank the deputy for the question. As a government, special education is a key priority which has been underpinned by more than a quarter of the entire education budget. Budget 2025 has provided for 1,600 additional special needs assistant (SNA) posts to support students in both mainstream and special education settings. To the greatest extent possible, students with...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Labour Market (5 Nov 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: The exact information requested by the Deputy is not available. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the official source of estimates of employment in the State. The most recent figures available are for Q2 2024. The LFS sectoral employment figures are based on the EU NACE Rev. 2 classification. Due to the methodology and sample size of the survey it is not possible to produce reliable...