Results 7,181-7,200 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has received an application from the Patron of the school in question for a change of status. The application is being considered and my Department will be in further contact with the Patron as part of this process.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: As indicated in my response to previous Parliamentary Questions, engagement with the vendor is ongoing in respect of outstanding clarifications regarding the proposed school site acquisition. Therefore, the appointment of a design team cannot be progressed yet but Department officials will work to do so as soon as it is possible.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Council of Ireland (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 246 to 248, inclusive, together. All initial teacher education programmes in Ireland that lead to registration must have professional accreditation from the Teaching Council. The Teaching Council's (Registration) Regulations 2016 set out the routes under which teachers are eligible to apply for registration. A degree in Early Childhood Teaching and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: The College concerned is a privately owned on-line third level education entity in respect of which my Department does not have any regulatory function. Programmes of initial teacher education provided in the State including those offered by this College must be accredited by the Teaching Council.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department’s immediate capital funding priority is providing 20,000 new and replacement school places each year, to ensure that every child has a school place. To ensure that this is achieved, the delivery of major school projects to meet significant demographic demands nationally is the main focus for capital investment in schools in the coming years.  The Six Year...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Placement (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in an area. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. As schools may not have a place for every applicant, a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy may be aware my Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychological support to all primary and post-primary schools. This involves direct support in the event of a critical incident, access to national and regional support and development work to build school capacity to support students, access to a NEPS psychologist for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Expenditure (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that my Department provides a wide range of resources and supports to DEIS schools each year.  Such resources include additional teaching posts, grants, curriculum supports, priority access to Continuing Professional Development, etc.  The full list is available on my Department's website at the following link:  The purpose of the overall suite of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7th March 2017.  These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.  The new Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks Rental Scheme (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 255 and 278 to 280, inclusive, together. My Department supports the operation of book rental schemes through the funding provided under the School Books Grant Scheme. Under this scheme, my Department provides funding of €16.6m annually to primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme. School book rental schemes have an important role to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, my Department approved a grant to the school in question to build a new ASD Unit in July 2018.   The current accommodation available at the school includes five classrooms and three Special Education Teacher (SET) Rooms. For the 2018/2019 school year, the school has a requirement for four mainstream classrooms, one ASD class and three SET...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Emergency Works Scheme Appeals (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the appeal from the school to which he refers has been reviewed and funding has been approved to carry out the repair works in question. The school has been informed of my Department's decision.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Appeals (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: The student to which the Deputy refers, has exhausted the appeals process both with SUSI and the statutory independent Student Grants Appeals Board (SGAB). There is no further review process within the statutory based appeals system under which the Student Grant Scheme operates. Under the progression rules in the Student Grant Scheme, an undergraduate student is ineligible for a grant if...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: University Global Rankings (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: At the outset it is important to note that there is a diversity of ranking systems under which universities are assessed on the basis of a number of different models.  The most recent world rankings published by QS are one of a suite of ranking models which are published annually which also include the Times Higher Education and U-Multirank.  In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: The July Provision Grant Scheme provides funding for an extended school year for children with severe/profound general learning disabilities or children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Under this scheme, the school year of participating schools is extended by four weeks in July. Where school based provision is not feasible, the home based Scheme provides funding towards an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: Budget 2018 marked the second year of major reinvestment in the education sector, as we continue to implement the Action Plan for Education, which has the central aim to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe within a decade. Since September 2016, my Department has provided for 4800 additional teachers across the school system. These improvements improved...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Mental Health Services Provision (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to HEA designated higher education institutions. The HEA allocates this funding as a block grant to the institutions. As autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of this funding, including the funding of student services, is a matter for the individual institution. Details of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools in the Free Education Scheme now receive capitation grant assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services. Within the capitation grant schemes, it is a matter for each individual school to decide how best to apply the grant funding to suit its particular needs. Where a school uses the capitation grant funding to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (7 Sep 2018)

Richard Bruton: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school.  The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in Department Circular 0030/2014, which is...