Results 8,901-8,920 of 19,968 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at Stage 3 of Architectural Planning – Tender Action, which includes for the appointment of a building contractor. The final prequalification process is complete and the Design Team are finalising Tender Documents. A tender process usually takes between 8 and 12 months to complete. My Department has a large pipeline...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: The project the Deputy refers to has been devolved to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) for delivery as part of bundled school building programmes. The shared education campus for the project in question is in the bundle referred to as ‘Project Liffey’. A letter issued from the Department to the Project Liffey schools in 2022 to advise that their respective...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Schemes (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware, the Summer Works Scheme is the funding mechanism for dealing with more significant improvement works that are usually carried out during school holiday periods to minimise disruption to the operation of schools. As part of it’s planning for 2023 and beyond, my Department's officials are working on the arrangements for the next phases of the summer works...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: As part of Budget 2023, I announced over €50 million to provide free books to primary school pupils within the free education scheme from September 2023. This measure will eliminate the cost to these families for all school books at primary school, including workbooks. It delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to extend the free school book pilot, currently in 102 DEIS...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 366 and 368 together. The project for Wexford Educate Together National School is part of a campus project for two schools in Wexford, the other school being Selskar College. The project is devolved for delivery to Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB). The Department received the Stage 1 Report following a meeting with WWETB and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department purchased a site subject to planning permission to accommodate the school referred to by the Deputy. The building project for the school is devolved for delivery to Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB). During the design process some potential site constraints have been identified, which are being fully investigated by WWETB and their design team. My...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department worked closely with officials from Wexford County Council (WCC) under the Memorandum of Understanding to identify a suitable site for the provision of the school referred to by the Deputy. WCC identified the site purchased, as potentially suitable for the development of a primary school under the MOU in late 2016. A meeting was held in 2017 between Department Officials and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, for school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: As part of Budget 2023, I announced over €50 million to provide free books to primary school pupils within the free education scheme from September 2023. This measure will eliminate the cost to these families for all school books at primary school, including workbooks. It delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to extend the free school book pilot, currently in 102 DEIS...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department specifies the minimum entry requirements in the core subjects: Irish, English and Mathematics for entry into primary Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes to ensure that primary teachers have the capacity to lead in these significant areas of student learning. The current Leaving Certificate entry requirement is a O4 in Mathematics. All candidates, including school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Procurement Contracts (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department has no record of any capital contracts awarded to the company referred to by the deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Health and Safety (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: Managing ventilation is just one of a suite of public health measures in place to keep our schools safe. The Department’s approach on good ventilation in schools, as part of a layered strategy of protective measures to control the spread of the virus, remains fully consistent with the Expert Group recommendations on good practices, the use of portable CO2 monitors and the targeted...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: 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: State Examinations (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: 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: Business Supports (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: The funding allocated to my Department, as set down in the annual Estimates, is used to meet costs associated with the provision of educational services in our schools and various related functions. The allocation is used primarily to fund the salaries of teaching and non-teaching school staff, the development of school infrastructure, capitation funding for the ongoing running costs of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Schooling (24 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: Section 14 (1) of the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, requires Tusla to maintain a register of children being educated in a place other than a recognised school. Parents of such children must complete a registration and assessment process for inclusion on the register. This legal requirement exists to support parents in their constitutional right as the primary educator of their child. To...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (19 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: The recruitment of teachers is a priority area of action for the Department given the importance of ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have available to them qualified, engaged and supportive teachers to support them in their learning. My Department is undertaking a comprehensive programme to support the supply of teachers. Officials engage closely with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (19 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: 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: State Examinations (19 Jan 2023)

Norma Foley: 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.