Results 6,201-6,220 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Accommodation Provision (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: I am happy for an official from the Department to make contact with Meath County Council in order to look at the specific areas Deputy Thomas Byrne has highlighted. I assume that conversation is ongoing any way because the Department is trying to collect the data and projecting building requirements into the future. One of the most interesting, significant and positive things about this...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: In her previous contribution, Deputy Burton asked about St. Brigid's GAA club, to which I meant to refer. With regard to playing pitches, in line with all new schools, there will be a high standard of sports facilities on site. Furthermore, it is intended that a public playing pitch will form part of the wider development in the area. The proposed school site is adjacent to St. Brigid's...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: To be clear, it is not the Department, it is the school that is co-operating.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: The only thing I will say with regard to St. Brigid's is that the new site is adjacent to it and like every local parish or community, there are competent people in these organisations who will talk to one another. If there are any issues that need to be resolved, no doubt they will overcome them. Design-build-operate contracts build good schools if they are built in the right way. It...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Services Staff (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: We are in the same space as the previous question on this matter. I will pick out a couple of important elements of the answer but will not go over the whole thing again because I already have put it on record. Schemes were initiated in 1978 and 1979 for the employment of clerical officers and caretakers were included in that bundle. These schemes were withdrawn completely in 2008. On...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Services Staff (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: Without going over what I said earlier, the figure of €8.65 per hour up to 2015 speaks for itself. To get to the rate of €13 per hour in January of this year cost an extra €22.5 million. Deputy Burton mentioned that there is a break in their contracts in the summer time and that many of them may possibly end up working longer than that during the summer. We all know how...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Junior Cycle Reform (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: In the first part of her question the Deputy asked what would happen next. At the end of the first quarter of this year the NCCA will report. I am conscious that it has a decision to make and I do not want to predetermine the outcome. I have met the NCCA, my officials and many individuals and groups on the teaching of history. One of the motivations in having Irish, English and maths as...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Junior Cycle Reform (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: On the Deputy's reference to the Irish language, there is a lovely seanfhocal, with which the Ceann Comhairle will be familiar - ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine, which means that we live in each other's shadow. We are living in the shadow of the people who wemt before us. Tá dualgas don chéad ghlúin eile orainn. We have a responsibility to the next...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputy for the question. As she will be aware, a building project to deliver permanent accommodation for Edmund Rice College Carpenterstown-Castleknock is included in my Department’s six-year construction programme and will be delivered under my Department's 2020 design and build programme. It is intended to provide the new school building on a site of approximately six...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Staff (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: I am certainly happy to look at this to see how we can improve and what supports we can provide for SNAs who are willing to retrain and re-skill, which is really important. I will be working very closely on the very good recommendations made in the SNA review. I am challenging myself on the language we use regarding autism. I met AsIAm before Christmas and my officials since. On...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Staff (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputy for this question about an issue that is close to my heart. While in opposition I highlighted the important role played by school secretaries. As somebody who worked in a secondary school, I realise the burden they are under and the important role they play. I recognise the very important work done by them and other support staff in the running of schools and I am...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Staff (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: I do not have a specific date. Communication has now been initiated between the representative organisation and the Workplace Relations Commission and my officials are happy to work with them. I will be happy if it happens sooner rather than later. I am also conscious of the fact that there have been so many anomalies in the schemes during years, including the 1978 and 1979 schemes. The...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Staff (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: I appreciate the Deputy's insistence that the talks start straightaway, but it also requires people to talk. I met the union representative group in County Donegal two weekends ago. They were very generous in letting me know that they were going to start a campaign the following week. It only started within the past ten days and the group knows what it wants to do. I support people in...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Junior Cycle Reform (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: Since arriving in the Department, I have spoken publicly about how vital it is that young people learn from the past in order that they can plan for the future. At a national, European and international level, it has never been more important for people to understand the lessons of history. As we face the very difficult challenges of Brexit, while also addressing the many aspects of the War...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Negotiations (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: Let us see what we can do in the space. For example, the University of Edinburgh announces measures one year at a time and I know a student who is looking to go to the Netherlands, with that decision possibly taken two years ago. Let us look at the creative space in which we can allow ourselves to work, whether it is on a North-South or east-west basis. I am prepared to work with the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Staff (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputy for the question. The Teaching Council is the body with statutory responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession, including the registration of teachers in Ireland. The Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2016 set out the requirements to be registered as a teacher in Ireland. Under these regulations there are four defined routes to registration,...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Staff (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: This is an area in which I have a massive interest as well. The investment this year alone in the special educational needs area will be approximately €1.75 billion, which is a 44% increase since 2011. Special classes numbers have gone from just under 500 to approximately 1,500 and we still have a long way to go. I know from parliamentary questions and letters that there is a...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Negotiations (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: Coming from a Border county, a no-deal Brexit is the worst possible outcome and would not be in the interests of the UK, Ireland or the EU. While I, along with my Cabinet colleagues, continue to watch developments in the UK closely, my Department continues work to prepare for the UK’s exit. This work, at national and EU level, continues to intensify, taking account of all possible...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Negotiations (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: I agree with the Deputy on bringing certainty to these matters. We are already in the first fortnight in January and students in Northern Ireland do not have certainty. It is not good enough if we are going to look at long-term planning or long-term commitments to North-South co-operation as well as the movement of people. Statistics show that the number of students from the South going...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Accommodation Provision (22 Jan 2019)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it allows me the opportunity to clarify the position in respect of St. Joseph’s secondary school, Rush, County Dublin. I acknowledge that my colleague, Senator James Reilly, has kept me up to speed on this issue. The school is currently located at Convent Lane, Rush and consists of a number of buildings, some permanent accommodation and...