Results 801-820 of 17,498 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Development Plan (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, 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.The Government has now concluded the review of the...

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

Helen McEntee: I can confirm that my department only recently, on the 4th of July 2025, received an application under the Additional School Accommodation scheme from the school in question. The purpose of the Additional School Accommodation scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education classroom accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year and where the need cannot...

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: Departmental Data (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. Decisions regarding the use and deployment of digital technology in schools is therefore a matter for the Board of Management of each school in the context of their digital learning planning. Schools are advised to consult with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service (29 Jul 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 an eLearning course for school staff - ‘Introducing a Trauma Informed Approach:...

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

Helen McEntee: The Department of Education’s approach to supporting wellbeing and mental health is set out in its Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice. This approach is founded on research and best international practice in relation to how schools can best support the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. The approach proposed is a whole school and preventative...

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

Helen McEntee: Nurture Groups are short-term focused interventions for children and young people with social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. They emphasise emotional literacy, language development, and positive relationships and are based on attachment theory and draw on trauma-informed practices. Nurture Groups involve small groups of children temporarily withdrawn from mainstream classes to...

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

Helen McEntee: Following a Government Decision in September 2012, my Department implemented the outcome of the review of allowances and premium payments by the then Department of Public Expenditure Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. As a result, many allowances are no longer payable to many new public service entrants including “new entrant” teachers. Among the...

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

Helen McEntee: Work is currently underway in my department to develop a new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht. I expect to receive a draft of the policy in the coming weeks for my review. If I am satisfied with the draft received, it is intended that the policy will be published in autumn 2025. The development of the policy was informed by an extensive consultation process and...

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

Helen McEntee: My department is taking a progressive, sequenced approach to developing a comprehensive policy for the Irish language in the education system. As it relates to the Department of Education and Youth, there are three strands to this work: the Policy on Gaeltacht Education; the policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht; and the action plan to support the teaching and learning of...

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

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy may be aware, the purpose of the Summer Works Scheme is to enable individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works on a devolved basis and, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school. A new Climate Action Summer Works Scheme (CASWS) was opened for applications on the 1st May...

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

Helen McEntee: The Professional Master of Education (PME) is a two-year, full-time Level 9 postgraduate professional teacher education programme designed to qualify graduates as primary and post-primary teachers. Changes to the duration and content of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes were made in response to recommendations in the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among...

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

Helen McEntee: The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme is one of the key supports provided by my department as part of the overall DEIS programme. Tusla Education Support Service manage the HSCL scheme on behalf of my department. The scheme seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services, with a view to supporting improved attendance, participation and...

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

Helen McEntee: The Board of Management of a school or Education and Training Board (ETB) is responsible, as employer, for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of its employees and of those directly affected by the work activities of the school. This includes the instruction of science subjects. Monitoring compliance with best practice safety protocols...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (29 Jul 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. 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 all schools, such as the...

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

Helen McEntee: Gross expenditure incurred by my Department last year on fee-charging schools was €144.8m. This includes salaries for teachers and special needs assistants of €142.9m for the 2023/24 school year and capital supports (building-related and ICT grants) of €1.9m in 2024. The allocation of teachers in fee-charging schools is outlined in Circular 0006/2025: Staffing...

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

Helen McEntee: I wish to advise the Deputy that approval has issued to the school authority in question under the Additional School Accommodation Scheme for the provision of two Special Educational Needs Classrooms (SEN). The project is being delivered under the Department’s Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme. The Department has a significant modular accommodation...

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

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1201 and 1203 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: Departmental Circulars (29 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation for the vital work that school principals do every day. I understand the demands of the role and the importance of protecting their time, especially outside of term. With this in mind, my department has worked closely with our key stakeholders/education partners to put in place processes for how and when the department...