Results 701-720 of 17,498 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: The project to which the Deputy refers is part of a school campus project at Kilbride, Co. Wicklow. It has been devolved for delivery to Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB). The project was authorised by the Department to proceed to Stage 3 (tender stage) in November 2024. The Stage 3 Tender Report has been recently submitted to the Department and is under review....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: The school to which the deputy refers has been granted capital funding for the provision of three mainstream classrooms, three Special Education Tuition rooms and the reconfiguration of existing accommodation to provide one Special Educational Needs classroom, Quiet space, Multi-activity room and Central activities space under my Department’s Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: The school to which the Deputy refers was approved by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to open a special class for the 2025/2026 school year. Following receipt of NCSE notification of sanctioned classes to my Department a SEN Start Up grant of €30,000 was paid to the school directly. Additional funding for small scale repurposing works up to a maximum of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: The school to which the Deputy refers was approved by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to open a special class for the 2025/2026 school year. Following receipt of NCSE notification of sanctioned classes to my Department a SEN Start Up grant of €30,000 was paid to the school directly. Additional funding for small scale repurposing works up to a maximum of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Legal Services (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1001, 1003, 1061, 1062, 1063, 1064, 1065, 1066 and 1067 together. At present, my Department operates primarily with public service resources to address litigation and procure legal advice. My Department seeks, where possible, to minimise legal fees and avails of the services of the Chief State Solicitor's Office, the Attorney General's Office and the State...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: I understand that the State Examinations Commission issued a reply to the Deputy on the 15th July last. The response is attached for the Deputy’s convenience.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department publishes details of the number of teaching posts which are allocated to schools each year and also the number of teachers employed by schools each year. Details of the number of teaching posts which are allocated to primary and secondary schools each year are published as part of my Departments annual key statistics information reports....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early School Leavers (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: Each year, my Department monitors new entry cohorts and their progression through the education system for the purposes of reporting on the retention rate. The data the deputy requested are produced annually by my Department and are available here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/collections/retention/ . The data requested by the deputy is provided in the accompanying table. It should...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: Under the provisions of the Education Acts, the board of management/ETB is the body charged with the direct governance of a school and the principal is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school. Any arrangements for co-curricular and/or extra-curricular activities are therefore a matter for each school and as a result, the Department would not hold the data requested.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Strategies (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027 sets out the Department’s policy to continue the progress made in embedding digital technology across the curriculum and in all aspects of teaching, learning and assessment in primary and second level schools. The Strategy is framed across three Pillars with objectives specified under each from which key strategic actions have been identified....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Standards (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: Assessment is used to gather evidence on how well students are learning. Using this information to improve teaching and learning is essential to support all students in developing strong literacy and numeracy skills. There are various forms of assessment, one of which is standardised testing. At primary level, standardised tests in reading and mathematics are administered to students in 2nd,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy may be aware, in order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including CSO census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: This Government is 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, especially in urban areas. While most teaching positions are filled, some schools face significant recruitment challenges. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Government is committed to increasing funding to support schools, and the Programme for Government commits to increasing capitation funding to schools of all types to ensure that schools can meet the elevated day-to-day running costs. The commitment in the Programme for Government builds on the progress which has been made in recent years, including an over €30 million...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Traveller Education (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Department of Education and Youth is firmly committed to supporting inclusive education and ensuring that all children and young people have access to appropriate educational provision tailored to their individual needs. St Kieran's Primary School, Bray, is a recognised primary school and therefore must admit all applicants unless it is oversubscribed. As with all other recognised...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: I understand the Deputy is referring to Leaving Certificate Irish and to a previous draft specification produced by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in 2021. This specification was not enacted and therefore was not introduced into the curriculum. As part of the Senior Cycle Redevelopment programme, the redevelopment of Leaving Certificate Irish is currently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Standards (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: Standardised tests are one of a number of assessment approaches that primary schools can use to assess children’s progress in Irish. The Educational Research Centre has prioritised the update of standardised testing requirements at primary level. This includes the redevelopment and standardisation of listening and reading tests in Irish to support learner progress in both English and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: The large scale capital project referred to by the Deputy is at Architectural Planning Stage 3 – Tender Action and Award. A tender report is under review by Department Officials. When this review is complete and subject to no further issues arising, my Department will be in further contact with the school authority and Design Team to progress the project.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: During the period 2020-2025 grant payments totalling €12.747 billion were issued by my Department and a table with the yearly breakdown is below. This mainly relates to grant funding issued to Education and Training Boards (€5.345 billion), directly to schools (€4.168 billion), the school transport scheme (€1.717 billion), and to a number of aegis bodies...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: Since 2020, this Department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan (NDP), involving the completion of over 1,400 school building projects. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. €210m supplementary capital funding...