Results 9,261-9,280 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (27 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: Schools Building Projects Status (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The school referred to by the Deputy forms 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: Schools Building Projects Status (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The building project referred to by the Deputy is for a new sixteen classroom school building and a two classroom special needs unit. The project is currently at Stage 2B of Architectural Planning - Detailed Design Stage, which includes applications for all statutory consents, including Planning Permission, Disability Access Certificate and Fire Safety Certificate and also the preparation of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, a building project for the school to which he refers is included in my Department's 6 Year Construction Programme.  In the context of progressing the building project, my Department has undertaken a site visit to the school. The building project will be devolved to Kildare Wicklow Education Training Board (KWETB) for delivery and it is my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that in cases where an ASD unit is approved as an extension to a mainstream school the existing available school accommodation is considered in order to establish the level of additional accommodation to be provided. It is considered that a centrally located space can be used to promote contact with mainstream students.  This space can be used by teaching...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Information and Communications Technology (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department is responsible for teaching and learning in schools.  In this regard, there is a prescribed curriculum in place that covers a broad range of learning needs including the use of technologies and wellbeing. My Department has a broad suite of policies to support the safe and appropriate use of digital technologies in schools. For example, the SPHE...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for organising and planning provision for children with Special Educational Needs, including the establishment of special classes in mainstream primary and post primary schools. Parents/Guardians who may need advice or are experiencing difficulties in locating a school placement, including special class placement, should contact...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme under which a school may apply for the provision of additional accommodation where a deficit has been identified.  The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential classroom accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year and where the need cannot be met by the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The school referred to by the Deputy has submitted an application to my Department for additional accommodation in recent days to facilitate an additional mainstream teacher post approved, for the school in question, for September 2018. The application will be assessed by my Department and a decision will be conveyed to the school authority when the assessment process has concluded.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff Appeals Mechanism (27 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: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: In April 2016, my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality commenced the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016 (the Vetting Act) which put in place statutory requirements for the Garda vetting of persons involved in working with children and vulnerable persons. The Vetting Act applies not just to schools but to any relevant organisation that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, I have announced new plans aimed at accelerating the provision of multi-denominational and non-denominational schools across the country, in line with the choices of parents, families and school communities and the Programme for Government commitment to reach 400 such schools by 2030. I would point out that the previous model of patronage divestment yielded...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm that the school referred to by the Deputy has submitted an application to my Department to provide additional accommodation. The application is currently under consideration by my Department in the context of the requirement for increased special education provision in the area. On completion of this process my Department will be in further contact with the school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Services for People with Disabilities (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that my Department administers the Emergency Works Scheme which is solely for unforeseen emergencies or to provide funding to facilitate inclusion and access for special needs pupils. The scheme is always open and the application form and circular are available on my Departments website.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (27 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are provided to assist recognised schools to cater for pupils with disabilities, who have additional and significant care needs, in an educational context and where the nature of these care needs have been outlined in medical and other professional reports as being so significant that a pupil will require additional adult assistance in order to be able to...

Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects Status (22 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Moynihan rightly indicated why the Department does not give firm timelines, because we do not know what might happen during a tender process that was not anticipated. I refer, for example, to issues arising with ground conditions that were not fully anticipated. The Department does not say a project will take a specific period because, as Deputy Moynihan rightly said, people would...

Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects Status (22 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising the issue. It is an issue of considerable concern. I have spoken to the Deputy's constituency colleagues, including the Minister, Deputy Creed, and others, who share his frustration. I understand it. It has a very long history. The planning process started way back in 2012 at which point planning permission was refused by Cork County Council on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Projects (22 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: A copy of a business case in relation to the project referred to by the Deputy has been received and is being considered by my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Data (22 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy may be aware, in order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas. My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. The GIS uses data from a range of sources, including the Central Statistics...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (22 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The school in question is an ETB school.  The ETB was approved devolved funding in December 2017 to address an acoustic deficiency in its ASD Unit. The tender process for the Consultant has been concluded by the ETB and the tender report has been submitted to my Department for review.  As soon as a decision on the tender outcome has been made the...