Results 9,141-9,160 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Contractors (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 63 together. The Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF), representing the PPP Company responsible for delivery of Schools Bundle 5, is currently implementing a rectification plan to secure service commencement on the five school buildings and one further education college as soon as possible.  DIF has indicated...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has recently contacted all of the primary schools in the Swords area to review their projected enrolments for September 2018. The schools concerned generally commenced their enrolment process for the new junior infants in early January of this year and this process is not yet complete. In that regard, the level of demand for all schools is not available at this point. Each...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for determining the appropriate staffing levels in special schools. Enhanced pupil teacher and Special Needs Assistant (SNA) ratios are provided to special schools to support them in dealing with pupil’s educational and care needs. In accordance...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: A case was submitted by Educate Together to my Department in relation to enrolment levels at five schools under its patronage, opened under the patronage divesting process - Tramore ETNS, New Ross ETNS, Trim ETNS, Tuam ETNS and Castlebar ETNS. My Department considered the case put forward by Educate Together in relation to each of the five divested...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the HEA designated higher education institutions. The HEA allocates this funding as a block grant to the institutions. However, as autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of this funding, including the determination of the fee rate applicable...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants to start. I, together with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, negotiated a 15-22% pay increase for new teachers. The agreements to date have restored an estimated 75% of the difference in pay for more recently recruited teachers and deliver convergence of the pay scales...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Severe Weather Events Response (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department’s guidance for schools in relation to making up for time lost due to unforeseen closures is set out in Circular 0009/2017 Standardisation of the School Year in respect of Primary & Post-Primary Schools for the years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 which is available on my Department’s website As outlined in Circular 0009/2017 flexibility is given to schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department received an application from the school in question for temporary classrooms to accommodate two additional teacher appointments in September 2018. My Department has recently conveyed approval in principle for this accommodation to the school.  The school has also submitted an application for significant capital funding for major building...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has recently contacted all of the primary schools in the Greystones area to review their projected enrolments for September 2018. My Department will continue to liaise with the schools to keep the matter under review in the coming weeks with a view to assessing any accommodation needs arising in 2018. Nationwide demographic exercises at primary and post-primary level are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Stádas Scoile (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Tá coiste athbhreithnithe bunaithe chun athbhreithniú a dhéanamh ar an soláthar oideachais ar fud scoileanna ar oileáin. Tá an obair seo ag an gcéim thosaigh a bhaineann lena forbairt agus déanfar í a chur chun cinn in 2018. Beidh an Roinn i dteagmháil leis na páirtithe ábhartha, an t-údarás scoile dá dtagraítear...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Review (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the update of the identification model is continuing.  This will take account of updated school data as provided by schools for the current school year combined with the Pobal HP Index of Deprivation, based on CSO Small Area Population statistics derived from the 2016 National Census. It is envisaged that this process...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can inform the Deputy that my Department introduced a new model to support pupils with special educational needs in our schools following a pilot which demonstrated strong support from principals, teachers and parents.  The new model differs significantly from the old Resource Allocation Model, as schools are now front-loaded with additional resources based on the profile of each...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The schools referred to by the Deputy form part of Schools Bundle 5, the PPP project which has been impacted by the liquidation of Carillion.  The Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF), representing the PPP Company responsible for delivery of Schools Bundle 5, is currently implementing a rectification plan to secure service commencement on the five school buildings...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Regional Development Policy (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Education and training has been critical to Ireland’s transformation over recent decades and central to sustaining economic success and building strong communities. My Department will support the measures outlined throughout the National Planning Framework Ireland 2040 which notes that “ Strategic  planning of and investment in the provision of childcare, education and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Psychological Assessments (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can inform the Deputy that my Department’s National Educational Psychological Service provides educational psychological support to all primary and post-primary schools. This involves direct support in the event of a critical incident, access to national and regional support and development work to build school capacity to support students, access to a NEPS psychologist for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Facilities (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Guidelines on the use of School Buildings outside of School Hours were published in October 2017; these can be viewed on my Department's website. The purpose of these guidelines is to provide guidance for schools in relation to the use of school buildings outside of school hours. These guidelines are provided for schools who currently make their buildings available and also...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the school referred to applied to my Department in March 2017 seeking additional accommodation in respect of projected increases in enrolment. Having assessed the application my Department was satisfied that there was sufficient capacity to meet the demand for school places in the catchment area within which the school referred to is located.  This...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff Training (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 and 141 together. My Department has not arranged specific training in relation to the social media forums mentioned by the Deputy. However, my Department did arrange media skills training for a small number of officials in 2016 and 2017. The following tabular statement gives details of the companies and the expenditure concerned. Expenditure on media...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Consultancy Contracts (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I should like to advise the Deputy that the Department's financial management system (FMS) has no records of any payments made to Acrux consultants since 2010.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Status (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has, for the first time, introduced an objective, statistics based model for deciding which schools warrant inclusion in the DEIS Programme, so that all stakeholders can have confidence that we are targeting extra resources at those schools with the highest concentrated levels of disadvantage. A detailed document explaining the methodology used in the new Identification...