Results 9,501-9,520 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Recognition (28 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has recently received a request from a primary school in County Kildare to change its status to a co-educational school. In considering the request, my Department has sought additional information from the Patron of the school in question. The matter can be considered further following receipt of this...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (28 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: The brief for the major building project for the school to which the Deputy refers is a new 16 classroom school on the existing school site. The project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning Stage 2b (Detailed Design), which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents. All statutory approvals have been secured. The Stage 2b...

Topical Issue Debate: Foreign Conflicts (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: I assure the Deputy the Russian authorities are in no doubt of Ireland's position but I will pass on his suggestion to the Minister. I share the Deputy's dismay. Over 13 million people have required humanitarian assistance in Syria alone and 5.5 million have fled to neighbouring countries. To be fair to the EU, to date it has mobilised more than €10.4 billion for humanitarian...

Topical Issue Debate: Foreign Conflicts (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: He is in Europe today. I will take the matter on his behalf.

Topical Issue Debate: Foreign Conflicts (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. I share their despondency with the situation in eastern Ghouta. The pictures that we are seeing are horrifying even by the standards of this conflict, which has been appalling throughout. On behalf of the Government, I condemn in the strongest terms the continued attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals and...

Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects Status (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies for raising this again. This school site includes a therapy building and the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, which is the patron, owns the building and intends to replace it. In that context, my Department had been engaging with the CRC seeking clarity on its plans for the therapy building. The CRC, in the latter part of January last, confirmed to the Department that it...

Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects Status (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: To clarify, the six years refer to 2015 to 2021, the period during which the schools where we need to make investment were identified and this was prioritised. There is a new demographic operation taking place and some new schools will be identified from that. That will be the next piece. The next steps are the project brief, design, planning permission and so forth. There are also...

Topical Issue Debate: School Patronage (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy is great at throwing around accusations, which she is entitled to do. I have heard it many a time in this Department. I know the Deputy would like me to be able to say that every parent has a right to get the school precisely of his or her choice. Unfortunately, the State has never been able to offer that. We have always had a situation that if one school is particularly...

Topical Issue Debate: School Patronage (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: -----the policy of the Department. It was not under my predecessors either. The reason is that we just do not have the capital funds to build precisely the schools that each parent wants. That is the difficulty. The former Minister, Mr. Ruairí Quinn's attempt was a genuine one to, as Deputy Shortall rightly said, get a school to close and amalgamate and to get a building released and...

Topical Issue Debate: School Patronage (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: -----and not looking for amalgamations and closures but moving-----

Topical Issue Debate: School Patronage (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: -----to a situation where we would get live transfers - in other words, the school would close under one patron and open simultaneously or further on under a different one.

Topical Issue Debate: School Patronage (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Shortall. The matter was raised last week but she did not get a chance to be here on that occasion. I am delighted to be able to respond today. The background to this is the 2012 report of the advisory group to the forum on patronage and pluralism in the primary sector, which recommended that demand for patronage diversity should be met in areas of stable population by...

Order of Business (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies for raising this issue on which I will revert to them with a full reply. My understanding is that a legal issue has arisen between the Chief State Solicitor representing the Department and the vendors of the site. However, I will find out whether we can expedite the matter. If legal issues have arisen, they may have to be worked through but perhaps we can find solutions.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: Following enquiries made within my Department the Rules and Regulations for National Schools 1932 to 1964 are available from the National Library of Ireland which is located at Kildare St, Dublin 2. The contact details for the National Library are 01 – 6030200 or by email at info@nli.ie

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early Childhood Care and Education (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: I would like to advise the Deputy that eligibility for the ECCE scheme is a matter for my colleague in Government, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Freedom of Information Requests (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department received a total of 4,476 Freedom of Information requests in the period 2010 to 2017 inclusive.  The information requested by the Deputy for the eight year period in question is set out in the following tables. Number of Freedom of Information requests received 4,476 Number of internal reviews of decisions sought 163 Number of review decisions appealed to the Office of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (27 Feb 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: National Development Plan (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: The National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2027 references the campus development plans of the seven universities, including Maynooth University.  These plans total over €3 billion and will be funded with a mix of own resources, borrowing, philanthropy and Exchequer grants.  The NDP also signals Exchequer investments of €2.2 billion in higher...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations Appeals (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: 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 Commission for direct reply to you.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Development Plan (27 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department has extensive information on the capital building programme including school applications and school projects being planned and delivered on its website www.education.ie. This range of information is continuously kept under review to enhance the information available on the website particularly in the context of the increased education capital investment announced under the...