Results 7,761-7,780 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Establishment (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, I have announced new plans aimed at accelerating the provision of multi-denominational and non-denominational schools across the country, in line with the choices of parents, families and school communities and the Programme for Government commitment to reach 400 such schools by 2030.  I would point out that the previous model of patronage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The current staff:student ratio in Institutes of Technology is 17:1. This is calculated based on the 2016/17 enrolment figures.  This is based on the ratio of full time students to core teaching staff. A one point reduction would require an estimated additional 280 FTE academic staff– estimated cost €17m.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff Data (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The current staff:student ratio in Universities is 25:1. This is calculated based on the 2016/17 enrolment figures.  This is based on the ratio of full time students to core teaching staff. A one point reduction would require an estimated additional 190 FTE academic staff– estimated cost €11m per annum.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has allocated €1.058b in recurrent core funding to publicly funded third level institutions in 2018 therefore the estimated cost of increasing the core funding by 1% is approximately €10.5m. It should also be noted that in addition my department has also provided over €400m in Student Support funding in 2018....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Expenditure (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: Every 5% increase in the student maintenance grant would cost circa €8.7m. Therefore, the estimated cost of increasing the student maintenance grant rates by 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% or 25% would cost in the region of €8.7m, €17.3m, €26m, €34.7m or €43.4m respectively.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Payments (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The main support to students attending higher education is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the Student Grant Scheme, eligible candidates may receive funding, provided they are attending an approved course at an approved institution and meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those which relate to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment (progression) and means. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Expenditure (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, I secured additional funding of €7m in Budgets 2017 and 2018 to facilitate the reinstatement of full maintenance grants from September 2017, for the most disadvantaged postgraduate students. This benefitted circa 1,000 post graduate students who met the eligibility criteria for the special rate of maintenance grant for the academic year 2017/18...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Expenditure (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The estimated of cost of increasing the special rate maintenance grant by €10, €20, €30, €40 per week would be in the region of €7.9m, €15.7m, €23.5m and €31.4m respectively. 

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Expenditure (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The cost of reversing the change to the distance criterion from the existing 45kms to 24kms, is estimated to be in the region of €26m. The above costing assumes that a change to the distance criterion would result in a similar percentage of students qualifying for the higher non-adjacent grant support, as existed pre Budget 2011.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Costs (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The estimated average cost of providing higher education provision is between €10k and €12k per student per annum therefore total cost for 100 places is between €1m and €1.2m. However, I wish to advise the Deputy that in order to qualify for funding towards tuition fees, students must be first-time undergraduates, hold inter alia EU/EEA/Swiss nationality...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Assistance Fund (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The SAF is designed to support students in third-level institutions who are experiencing exceptional financial need. This Fund assists students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. The fund was recently extended to part-time students following the allocation of an additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Fund for Students with Disabilities (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) provides financial support to higher education institutions to ensure that they are adequately resourced to cater for the needs of students with disabilities. The Fund provides grants towards the individual needs assessment, provision of services, purchase of equipment and provision of academic supports for students with disabilities.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Expenditure (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: Based on the number of students that qualified for free fees funding in the academic year 2016/17, and taking into account overall expected increases in student numbers, it is estimated that the net cost to my Department of reducing the Student Contribution is as follows: Reduce by (per student) € Estimated Net cost to Department € €250 €17m €500...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Legislative Measures (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: A number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 have been commenced, including those establishing the National Council for Special Education and those promoting an inclusive approach to the education of children. A number of sections of the EPSEN Act have yet to be commenced. Legal advice provided to my Department indicates that the EPSEN Act,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Speech and Language Therapy (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: I recently announced that a demonstration project to provide in-school and pre-school therapy services will be introduced for the 2018/19 school year. The project will be managed and co-ordinated by the National Council for Special Education. The model has been developed by the Departments of Education, Children and Youth Affairs, Health, and the Health Service Executive, and is part of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The estimated full year cost of increasing the rate of capitation by 1% in primary schools is circa €1m. I recognise the need to improve capitation funding for schools having regard to the reductions that were necessary over recent years. Restoring capitation funding as resources permit is one of the actions included in the Action Plan for Education. Budget 2018...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The estimated full year cost of increasing the rate of capitation by 1% in post-primary schools is circa €1m. I recognise the need to improve capitation funding for schools having regard to the reductions that were necessary over recent years. Restoring capitation funding as resources permit is one of the actions included in the Action Plan for Education. Budget 2018...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Modern Language Teaching (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative (MLPSI) was introduced in September 1998. It involved the introduction of Italian, Spanish, German and French for 5th and 6th classes. The MLPSI was a pilot scheme across 550 schools with an annual budget of approximately €2.5m. A 2008 Report by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment recommended against a further...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Healthy Living Strategies (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Active School Flag (ASF) is a Department initiative where schools are recognised for striving to achieve a physically educated and physically active school community.  My Department allocated €175,000 for the initiative in both 2016 and 2017.  The budget allocation for 2018 is currently being considered. In addition to this, Healthy Ireland, which is a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (26 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing schedule also includes an appeals mechanism for schools to submit an...