Results 9,681-9,700 of 19,576 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: Circular 0003/2018 “Leadership and Management in Post Primary Schools” and Circular 0063/2017 “Leadership and Management in Primary Schools” paved the way for the further development of a distributed leadership model and the restoration of 2,600 posts of responsibility in the 2017/2018 school year. The Department has committed to annually revising the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department received and examined an application for additional school accommodation from the school referred to by the Deputy. Having assessed the application and the future needs of the school, it is considered that the most optimum solution for the school is the provision of a new school on a new site and my Department is engaging with the patron in this regard.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the state examinations. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. For 2022, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: The school referred to by the Deputy is included in my Department's school building programme for the construction of a new permanent school building, including accommodation for pupils with special education needs and a General Purpose (GP) Room, on a greenfield site. The project is being delivered through the ADAPT (Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning and Tendering) programme....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, including Child Benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: Work on the development of a new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht is now underway in my Department. One of the key objectives of this new policy relates to the provision of a framework for the delivery of high-quality education in Irish-medium primary and post-primary settings and in Irish-medium early learning and care settings (naíonraí) outside of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: In March this year I was glad to be able to announce a major expansion of the DEIS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools programme. This means that, for the first time since 2017, the programme has been significantly expanded to an additional 322 schools. Those schools are now gaining access to targeted supports to address educational disadvantage. This will add an additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department provides funding to all recognised schools in the Free Education Scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs including heating, lighting etc. and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. These grants may be regarded as a common grant from which the Board of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: For academic year 2021-2022, the most recent year we have published data, there were 252 Gaelscoileanna in the State. The figure for Gaelscoileanna is the number of mainstream primary schools which have "All Subjects Through Irish" as their Irish Classification Description. This figures are collated from the relevant, Primary Data on Individual Schools, tables published on the DES website...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: In March this year I was glad to be able to announce a major expansion of the DEIS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools programme. This means that, for the first time since 2017, the programme has been significantly expanded to an additional 322 schools. Those schools are now gaining access to targeted supports to address educational disadvantage. This will add an additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: The wellbeing of all in the school community remains a priority for this Department. The Department’s Wellbeing Policy and Framework for practice has given recognition to the importance of promoting wellbeing in education. The approach set out in the Wellbeing Policy is a whole school and preventative approach which has multiple components that include providing children and young...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Programmes (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: I am delighted to advise you that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD and I last week launched the 2023 – 2024 Schools Energy Retrofit Pathfinder Programme which will evaluate and demonstrate the approach to energy retrofit and carbon reduction in the schools’ sector, testing energy efficiency solutions and renewable heat technologies. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: I welcome the Budget 2023 announcement of funding from the Climate Action Fund in relation to the provision of Photovoltaic Panels in schools up to 6KW output. This is really positive news for our schools and will assist with their energy needs and costs along with supporting the decarbonisation of our school buildings. My Department's Officials are working closely with the Department of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Policies (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) of my Department provides a school-based psychological service to all recognised primary and post-primary schools through the application of psychological theory and practice to support the wellbeing, and the academic, social and emotional development of all learners. The NEPS service provides access for all schools to: - Psychological...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 365 and 366 together. I welcome the Budget 2023 announcement of funding from the Climate Action Fund in relation to the provision of Photovoltaic Panels in schools up to 6 kW output. This is really positive news for our schools and will assist with their energy needs and costs along with supporting the decarbonisation of our school buildings. My Department...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Transport (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department has a dedicated Policy on all matters relating to official travel by staff of the Department and its Offices, including air travel. The Policy is framed on the relevant circulars and advice from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and reflects the general principle of achieving efficiency and value for money and minimising travel and subsistence costs. The Policy is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: Schools are required to teach all aspects of the Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) programme, including family planning, sexually transmitted infections and sexual orientation. The Programme for Government commits to developing inclusive and age-appropriate RSE and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curricula across primary and post-primary levels, including an inclusive...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the last school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. In July 2022, Government announced...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (11 Oct 2022)

Norma Foley: At the outset, I wish to advise the Deputy that colleges and universities do not fall under my remit. Responsibility for these institutions falls under the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. My Department is at the forefront of design with respect to sustainable energy in school buildings and this performance has been recognised at both National...