Results 901-920 of 15,342 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can advise the Deputy that the number of exemptions from the study of Irish granted at primary and post primary level over the last five years is as follows: Primary: Year New Irish Exemptions Granted SEN Coming from abroad Total Irish Exemptions in place Total Primary school enrolment Percentage of pupils holding an exemption...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can advise the Deputy that all children educated in Ireland are expected to have the opportunity to study Irish to an appropriate standard and are encouraged to study the language and achieve a level of personal proficiency that is appropriate to their needs and ability. The only circumstances in which an exemption from the study of Irish can be granted are those set out in Section 2.2....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can inform the Deputy that currently, there are four modules on Irish Sign Language (ISL) available as part of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme. This course introduces students to ISL and aims to develop their expressive and receptive communication skills. The course also develops awareness and appreciation of the Irish deaf community and its culture. The Department wishes to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of Architectural Planning - Stage 2(b) Detailed Design, where the design team secure the statutory approvals and prepare the suite of tender documents. The project brief is to provide a new replacement school building, and all associated site works to accommodate a Long-Term Projected...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: All primary schools, including special schools, and post-primary schools must report annually on student non-attendance in primary and post-primary schools at an aggregated level. This data is collected by Tusla Education Support Service (TESS). Schools make two returns to TESS, the Annual Attendance Report (AAR) and the School Absence Report (SAR). This information is available on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question. The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (or ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: 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 172,500 children, are transported daily in approximately 7,900 vehicles across 10,300 routes to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. this figure includes over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department has a robust forward planning process which considers population and enrolment data. Analysis of the Dublin 15 area indicates that there is sufficient post primary school capacity to cater for the existing population. One relevant indicator is that there are more first year places available in the existing post primary schools than there are sixth class pupils living in Dublin...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: The information in respect of aegis bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Aegis bodies have been provided with the question and have been advised to respond directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: My officials confirmed that no correspondence has been received within the scope of your question. State board appointments are typically made via the Public Appointments Service (PAS). PAS routinely stipulate the skill set required for service on individual boards in specific information booklets. Information booklets, developed with input from the Chair, detail the skills, competencies...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: The information in respect of aegis bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Aegis bodies have been provided with the question and have been advised to respond directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: The information in respect of aegis bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Aegis bodies have been provided with the question and have been advised to respond directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Abuse (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Department takes child protection very seriously and considers that the protection and welfare of children is a fundamental responsibility of all involved in the care and education of children. Since the introduction of a revised primary school curriculum in 1970 and the total prohibition of use of corporal punishment from 1 February 1982 child protection requirements and procedures in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: 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 172,500 children, are transported daily in approximately 7,900 vehicles across 10,300 routes daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. This figure includes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: The sraith pictiúr, or picture sequences, are a component of the common Irish Oral test for Higher Level and Ordinary Level candidates, with the Oral test accounting for 40% of the overall marks for Leaving Cert Irish. In response to issues highlighted in National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta Gaelscolaíochta (COGG)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: As set out previously, the Department is committed to ensuring that school caretakers will be afforded the opportunity to avail of a similar package offered to school secretaries of revised salary and annual leave entitlements. Any review of changes to the employment of school caretakers can occur only under through the usual industrial relations processes. The Department, in conjunction...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: The school referred to by the Deputy is currently based in temporary modular accommodation. It is intended that the school will relocate to a former primary school building that is currently occupied by a special school pending the construction of a new school building for that special school which is currently under construction. It is envisaged that the new school building for the special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department does not have any record of payments made to the company referred to by the Deputy. As my Department only holds financial records dating back to 2003, it is not possible to confirm whether payments were made in the years prior to 2003.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy, that the school in question submitted an application for capital funding, under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. 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 Facilities (19 Mar 2025)

Helen McEntee: The recently published Programme for Government, Securing Ireland’s Future, includes the commitment to provide free period products in schools to ensure no student is held back due to period poverty. My department is participating in the work of the inter-departmental period poverty group led by the Department of Health. I intend to make progress in relation to providing free...