Results 9,981-10,000 of 19,977 for speaker:Norma Foley
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. As he said, he has engaged with me previously in a Topical Issues matter, oral questions, etc. There is a huge commitment from this committee. It is my objective to ensure that centres like Cork Life Centre are sustainable and that there is a very clear pathway forward for them. I understand, from my own experience, that the formal education setting satisfies the vast...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: The review had extensive consultation. Notwithstanding that, I appreciate that Cork Life Centre had specifically asked for certain clarifications. That was done and published. There has been considerable consultation. The next step is the implementation. There will be opportunities as we go forward. Irrespective of the formula that will be employed, there is a shared agenda to make this...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: -----so we need to find a system that will address all of the issues and the difference of issues that are there. I cannot say much more-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: -----other than to say I am committed to finding that way forward. I appreciate the expertise and commitment that have been shared by so many who sit around the table at this committee and, indeed, as I said, the Chair himself. I will continue to engage with the Deputy and update him on the progress of the implementation group. I also appreciate the urgency that people want to give this issue.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: The Senator is 100% correct. We have now seen the single largest investment in the DEIS programme of €17 million and it will be €32 million next year. This has allowed the biggest number of schools ever to enter the DEIS programme and it means that one in four students is attending a DEIS programme supported school. That is as we want it. I am aware of the digital library...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: We will be pushing forward as quickly as we can with looking at other measures to level the playing pitch for students. I am happy to specifically look at the digital library service again to see what opportunities we have. It is correct that it is tied up in reviews, but I will look at it to see what scope we have.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: I do not want to mislead the Senator so I will come back to her with something definitive on that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: I appreciate that and I acknowledge the excellent work of the local authorities in respect of the library service. Terrific links have been established between our schools and the library service and, in fact, we have invited schools to liaise with the library service about types and suitability of books under the €20 million allocation. I also acknowledge the manner in which many...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: As a collective, we are all conscious of the world in which we live these days. We are aware that many of our students are gaining access to information, as I said previously, that is not supervised or appropriate and is not monitored. They are gaining that access via their mobile phones and other sources. It is important that students are equipped to face the challenges of the world in...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: Again I would say to Senator Mullen that there is a public consultation period. I invite people to share their thoughts and opinions. However, I am equally clear in saying to Senator Mullen that there will be a syllabus formulated from the public consultation process and out of what we know students need to have access to in terms of information. Schools will be obliged to follow the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: I thank the Chair.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: I thank the Chair and know it is an area of specific interest to him and the committee. I was very keen to progress it and conscious that this type of support is not available in primary schools at present. This €5 million gives us this opportunity and we have begun the work as to how it will be rolled out and how we will work it through and pilot it in primary schools with an...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: Yes. On the review of the 2013 action plan, the steering group, as the Chair is aware, is being led by Dr. Noel Purdey of Stranmillis University College in Antrim. There has been considerable consultation around this. As I did initially, I wish to acknowledge the enormous body of work it has done. There was a presentation on the thoughts and recommendations and the body of work the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: Please repeat the question. I did not hear it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: With regard to the Cork Life Centre, the key consideration in this review, which relates not only to that centre but to all such centres, is securing their sustainability. That will very much be the focus. The review will cover many of the issues Deputies Ó Laoghaire and O'Sullivan and many others have raised with me at different times. I acknowledge the considerable progress being...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: The Chairman is correct and I acknowledge his ongoing interest and that of the wider committee in Cork Life Centre. The centre asked for a number of clarifications regarding the report and I indicated we would look at all of them. They were taken on board and subsequently published and made available.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Education Issues: Engagement with the Minister for Education (12 Oct 2022)
Norma Foley: The prompting of the Chair-----