Results 9,201-9,220 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: It is.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: As part of the mid-term review of the national development plan, a provision of an additional €50 million was made for further education from 2019 to 2021. That is a commitment of additional funding. In the national development plan, the overall envelope for the ten years is €300 million. Provision has been made under the Department's capital plan. The allocation of this...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: It is the ETB that will develop the individual proposals for sanction but SOLAS has an oversight role. It is the individual ETBs that will draw up the capital projects and will work with the Department in terms of the cost-benefit analysis and assessments of the proposals.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The position on higher education funding is that last year we provided an additional €36.5 million and another €64 million this year, which brought it up to €100 million. Part of this is being funded through the national training fund. There has been a significant increase in the higher and further education budget over the past two years. There is, of course, the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The position is that capital will always be scarce when coming out of a recession, as we are. We are expanding our capital provision steadily, however. At the low point, capital provision for schools was under €350 million. It is now up to €540 million. That is a substantial increase, of over 50%, since 2012. For the period 2019 to 2021, a further €70 million is...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy asked the question and I believe I am entitled to answer it.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Three hundred and forty schools have completed the programme and 120,000 places are being provided. We are providing places at double the rate that obtained when the Deputy's party was previously in government. We have expanded. Of course there are demands. There is a growing number of children, particularly at second level, but also at primary level. This is a period of very high demand...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Each year, I am getting more money. Money is always tight and we are still working under budgetary restrictions, which everyone knows about. There are restrictions on our capital budgets, just as there have been on our current budgets. Each year I get additional provision, which recognises a need. It has also been recognised that in the years ahead, which the Deputy is not interested in,...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Yes. We secured a commitment to provide additional money in each of those years. As many as 85 projects will go through this year, and 340 projects have been completed which provides an additional 125,000 places. That proves we are executing a programme but of course we could do more. We would bring forward investment in physical education, prefabs and so on if more money was available....

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: There is no doubt that planning and site issues create delays. We have developed a very close working relationship with local authorities so that a protocol is in place. They developing areas, identify sites where schools are needed and inform us because we are a notifiable party. When they consider planning applications they notify us of their intentions or of the planning applications...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: No. I am saying that the selection criteria would require that a school was able to show that it could manage the programme. Therefore, it would have to have a PE instructor or whatever.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: A school must be able to access some facilities.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Whether a school had the facilities or someone else had the facilities, that was not the issue. A school would have to show it could execute the programme. There was not a distinction made in that way. Clearly, this is the first phase of the pilot scheme. Therefore, we want to iron out potential challenges, if any. We want to test continual professional development, CPD, and upskilling....

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Until we are in a position to commit to funding a PE programme, the scheme will not be rolled out this year or next year. We will conduct an audit in advance of the programme being rolled out. The scheme is not on the immediate radar. Priority lies elsewhere at the moment. The scheme is being built into the ten-year programme. As I said to Deputy Thomas Byrne, we will consider prefabs...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: We are not doing an audit at the moment. Clearly, we have committed to developing a PE programme and that will be based on meeting deficits.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Business of Select Committee (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Before we conclude, Chairman, Michael Keogh is the assistant secretary in the Department who has worked on the Department's Estimates for many years. He is retiring shortly and I wish to take this opportunity to thank him for his immense service in keeping every penny well spent in the interests of our children.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department website. 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 staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Summer Works Scheme (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The current Summer Works Scheme (SWS) 2016 -2017 was applied on a multi-annual basis.  The Deputy will be aware that nearly 50% of schools have applied for inclusion under the scheme which reflects a very high demand.  Almost €80 million has been approved to date under the Summer Works Scheme, in respect of over 640 school projects in categories 1-6. Details of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The policy of this Department is to ensure that all children with special educational needs can be provided with an education appropriate to their needs. This Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools, which have enrolled students with special educational needs, in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: This Government is committed to ensuring that all children with Special Educational Needs, including those with autism, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is an independent statutory body whose functions include planning and...