Results 61-80 of 15,908 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Youth Services (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Supporting youth services is apriority for the Department of Education and Youth, ensuring that young people in Dublin and across the country, have access to valuable resources and opportunities. In 2025, the 31 Youth Services represented by the Independent Youth Projects in Dublin were allocated a total of €13,459,281 in funding from the Department of Education and Youth. To date,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy is aware, I recently announced €65 million in funding to support digital learning in schools and minor building works. €35 million in grant funding for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has issued to all recognised primary and post-primary schools, while a separate €30 million in minor works funding is being provided to primary and special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy is aware, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has published (ncca.ie/en/senior-cycle/senior-cycle-redevelopment/schedule -of-senior-cycle-subjects-for-redevelopment/) the schedule for the revision of all Leaving Certificate Established subjects. This redevelopment will be implemented in five annual tranches from 2025 to 2029, with new and revised...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I acknowledge that homework can play an important part in helping students to prepare for forthcoming classwork and in reinforcing work already covered during class time. The Primary Curriculum Framework, published in 2023, supports learning at home through meaningful activities, including homework. It highlights the role of parents’ positive attitudes and encourages tasks that are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Youth Services (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department is committed to supporting the delivery and development of youth work services and opportunities for young people across the 16 education and training boards (ETBs) including Laois Offaly ETB. In 2025, €138,580 was allocated to Laois Offaly ETB under the ETB Youth Service Grant, to support the ETB in carrying out its functions relating to the administration of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department is committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing of all children including those who may have experienced trauma. The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) has engaged in extensive national training of school staff in the area of trauma-informed practice and have developed a eLearning course for school staff - ‘Introducing a Trauma Informed Approach: The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department recognises the vitally important role of secretaries and caretakers within school communities, as a key link between students, school leaders and other staff, ensuring that both the core needs of the school are met. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable. Since September 2023 my department has been providing a payroll service for former grant funded school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Tackling educational disadvantage and supporting students to fulfil their full potential in life is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth, and for the Government. The DEIS programme is a key policy of Government to tackle concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. It provides a targeted range of supports and is additional to the universal supports provided to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan (NDP), involving the completion of over 1,375 school building projects. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Since 2020, the total capital invested...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department recognises the vitally important role of Caretakers within school communities, as a key link between students, school leaders and other staff, ensuring that both the core needs of the school are met. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable. Where a school employs a staff member to support those functions those staff are not public servants but employees of individual...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The major building project for the schools referred to by the Deputy will deliver a new 1,000 pupil post primary school with accommodation and 6 classrooms for children with special educational needs and a new 8 classroom primary school with accommodation and 2 classrooms for children with special educational needs at Ballincollig, which will be delivered as part of a shared educational...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: As the deputy will be aware, the Programme for Government committed to holding a convention bringing together all stakeholders in education. At the teacher conferences last Easter I announced that I intend to commence the first stages of the Convention on Education process later this year. I am currently working with my officials to set out a plan and vision for the Convention. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: This joint school building project for the projects referred to by the Deputy will deliver a new extension and refurbishment of some existing accommodation to provide a 24 classroom primary school with classrooms for children with special educational needs, at both schools. The schedule of accommodation was recently increased to include SEN accommodation and the design options submitted by...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The programme for Government commits to ‘expand the provision of after-school and childcare in school buildings and campuses, in tandem with the school building programme, to provide better access for parents and communities. My Department supports and encourages the use of school buildings for community and recreational purposes, where feasible, including the provision of early...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I wish to advise the Deputy that the decision-making authority for any change of status is the patron/trustees of the schools concerned and it is open to any patron to submit proposals to the Department for consideration. Any proposed change involves extensive consultation at local level and must be well planned and managed in a manner that accommodates the interests of students, parents,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The shared educational campus referred to by the Deputy was completed in Q4 2023 and delivered a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school and two 24 classroom primary schools and accommodation, including 14 classrooms across the three projects, for children with special education needs. The campus project also delivered 3 GP areas, a PE Hall in the post-primary school and 13 ballcourts in total. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Class sizes in schools are affected by a variety of factors including enrolment fluctuations and accommodation available. Schools are best placed to determine the appropriate numbers in any class and so the configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. The Department's guidance to schools is that the number of pupils in any class is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department recognises the vitally important role of school secretaries and ancillary staff within school communities, as a key link between students, school leaders and other staff, ensuring that the core needs of the school are met. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable. Since September 2023 my department has been providing a payroll service for former grant funded school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I recognise the key role school leadership in improving educational outcomes by creating a positive school climate and environment as well as motivating and empowering educators and learners within their school communities. Recent improvements in relation to school management and leadership structures include: all primary schools with a teaching principal have a minimum of 37 Principal...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (12 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I wish to advise the Deputy that my department has a robust forward planning process. The 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 school...