Results 761-780 of 17,498 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child and Family Agency (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my department and operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. TESS has three strands namely the statutory Educational Welfare Service and the two school support services the Home School Community Liaison scheme and the...

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

Helen McEntee: The Commission of Investigation has been established to investigate the handling of historical child sexual abuse in schools. This was recommended by the Scoping Inquiry whose remit was to consider the issue of historical sexual abuse, as distinct from physical abuse which is a separate issue. The Scoping Inquiry's report was published in September 2024. It reported that there were 2,395...

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

Helen McEntee: 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 operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally. The primary school staffing arrangements for the 2025/26 school year are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1109 and 1110 together. 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 primary staffing arrangements for the 2025/26 school year are set out in Circular 0011/2025. The staffing schedule...

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

Helen McEntee: Enrolment data is taken from the primary and post-primary online databases and is as per the census date, 30th September, in each year. Patronage data is for academic year 2023-2024 as this is the latest available. The Programme for Government includes commitments to expand opportunities for students to attend Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí, to establish Gaelscoileanna...

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

Helen McEntee: The school to which the Deputy refers was granted approval for the provision of 2 Special Education Needs classrooms (SEN) under my Department's Additional School Accommodation Scheme. The project is being delivered under the Department’s Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme. The Department has a significant modular accommodation programme in place to...

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

Helen McEntee: The rollout of the pilot Single Application System marks a significant step towards fulfilling the Programme for Government commitment to introduce a nationwide common application system. As the Deputy will be aware, the pilot Single Application System for admission to first year at post-primary schools will involve five towns: Athenry, Celbridge, Clonakilty, Greystones and Tullamore. ...

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

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1122 and 1123 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that requirement for school places is kept under on-going review in the context of available information on population, enrolments and residential development activity. In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314...

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

Helen McEntee: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Under the current terms of the School Transport Schemes, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post primary level where they reside...

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

Helen McEntee: Travel and Subsistence costs for my Department and its aegis bodies for the time period in question are set out in the table below. T&S including aegis bodies Year 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total €1,146,434 €2,221,771 €3,286,438 ...

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

Helen McEntee: The rollout of the pilot Single Application System marks a significant step towards fulfilling the Programme for Government commitment to introduce a nationwide common application system. As the Deputy will be aware, the pilot Single Application System for admission to first year at post-primary schools will involve five towns: Athenry, Celbridge, Clonakilty, Greystones and Tullamore. ...

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

Helen McEntee: At the outset, it should be noted that, under the Education Act, the Boards of Management of Schools have responsibility for the day to day management of schools. This includes decisions regarding the use and deployment of digital technology in schools which are a matter for the Boards of Management and principal of each school in the context of their digital learning planning. Schools are...

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

Helen McEntee: At the outset, it should be noted that under the Education Act, the Boards of Management of Schools have responsibility for the day to day management of schools. This includes decisions regarding the use and deployment of digital technology in schools which are also a matter for the Boards of Management and principal of each school in the context of their digital learning planning. Schools...

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

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1129 and 1138 together. Ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have qualified, engaged teachers available to support them in their learning is a priority area of action for the Government. The recruitment and appointment of teachers for teaching positions is managed by individual school authorities. There are over...

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

Helen McEntee: In line with responses to the Deputy's previous questions on Nurture rooms; Nurture Groups are often referred to as Nurture Rooms possibly because of a confusion about the terminology but also possibly because many of them are part-time and, therefore, the emphasis is sometimes on the room rather than the group dynamic. Nurture Groups are short-term focused interventions for children...

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

Helen McEntee: The following table provides the details on the amount of funding allocated to special education since 2020. Budget year 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 Allocation €2.9 billion €2.7 billion €2.58 billion €2.39 billion €2.18 billion €1.98...

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 permanent...

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

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1143 and 1144 together. As Minister for Education, I believe it is crucially important that children and young people are actively supported to access education in its fullest forms. This Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families. As you...

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

Helen McEntee: Decisions on school uniforms are a matter for individual schools and Boards of Management. My department issued Circular 0032/2017, which sets out the principles of cost-effective practice to be adopted by schools to reduce the cost of returning to school. Under these measures, schools were advised that they should select school uniform items which are generic and can be purchased from a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Government is investing a record €11.8 billion into education and schools through Budget 2025. This record level of investment has allowed the Government to invest in tackling educational disadvantage and supporting those with special educational needs to achieve their full potential. It has enabled huge investment in the school buildings programme, in curriculum reform, in...