Results 1,021-1,040 of 15,047 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (18 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 172,500 children, are transported daily in approximately 7,900 vehicles across 10,300 routes to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. this figure includes over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Artificial Intelligence (18 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department continue to review and follow guidance issued by the National Cyber Security Centre, Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, and the Department of Public Expenditure NDP Delivery and Reform on the use of Artificial Intelligence. A limited trial is underway by my Communications Department to assess the opportunity for productivity gains of AI services which includes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (18 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy that the department is in receipt of an application for funding for Major Capital Works from the school to which the Deputy refers. This application has been assessed under the Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education classroom accommodation is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department has received an application, under the Additional Schools Accommodation Scheme (ASA), from the school authority in question. The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education 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: Schools Building Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question for 1 x Mainstream classroom modular and the school authority has subsequently requested that this modular be changed to provide 1 x Special education needs classroom. The purpose of my Department’s...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question. The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education 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: Education Policy (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Offers of and amendments to accommodation arrangements for all Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection is in the remit of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). When the DCEDIY confirm that relocations of Ukrainian families to other accommodation centres are necessary, my Department works with DCEDIY to minimise the disruption to any children attending...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The school referred to by the Deputy was approved a project under my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme to provide 3 General classrooms, 1 Textiles room, 1 Music room, 1 DCG/Tech room, 1 Home Economics room, 2 Science laboratories with 1 Prep area and a 2 Classroom SEN base. This project has been devolved for delivery to KWETB (Kildare & Wicklow...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Abuse (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Government has accepted the recommendation to establish a Commission of Investigation which is the principal recommendation of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders. The Report of the Scoping Inquiry made a number of further recommendations, including that consideration be given to expanding the remit of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Board of Management of each school is responsible for the care and safety of all pupils. Where the school is aware of potential difficulties that may arise as a consequence of a medical condition suffered by one or more pupils, it may be possible for the management authorities, working in conjunction with parents, teachers and student(s) to put appropriate measures in place. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: As is reflected in the correspondence referred to by the Deputy, neither my department nor the State Examinations Commission (SEC), has a role in relation to the setting, running, or marking of mock examinations. Decisions to hold mock examinations are taken by individual schools. The format of these examinations varies from school to school and not all schools run mock examinations. For...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 and 193 together. Please find attached requested data. In previous budgets, reducing the pupil teacher ratios in primary schools was prioritised which has brought the teacher allocation ratio to an average of 1 classroom teacher for every 23 pupils in all primary schools, the lowest level ever seen at primary level. A three point reduction in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I wish to advise the Deputy that requirements for school places is kept under on-going review in the context of available information on population, enrolments and residential development activity. Since 2020, my department has invested over €1.3 billion in our schools throughout Dublin county, involving the completion of over 250 school building projects and with construction...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (13 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Please find attached requested information. The number of primary, special and post-primary schools for the requested school planning areas. Please note that the enrolment data is for academic year 2023-24, this is the latest year we have final enrolment data for. We expect to publish final enrolment data for academic year 2024-25 in June 2025. Language of Instruction can be sourced from the...

Programme for Government: Statements (Resumed) (12 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I am really pleased to have an opportunity to speak on the programme for Government that I was pleased to negotiate with colleagues over the last number of weeks and months and one that sets out our priorities as a Government over the next five years. It is built on delivering a strong economy and a fair society and central to that is our education system. We have set out very clearly in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (12 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The school in which the Deputy refers, submitted an application for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) for roof works. The original application was refused as the school in question was advised to make contact with the original design team in the first instance, given the age of the roof, in order to ascertain the reasons behind the failure of the roof and the most...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The large scale capital project referred to by the Deputy for the provision of a new 600 pupil school and ancillary accommodation was approved by my Department to proceed to Architectural Planning Stage 3 – Tender Action and Award. Whilst at this stage a new grant of planning was received in December 2023, with a number of conditions attached. The design team are currently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Climate Action Plan (12 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The annual payment to the climate action fund scheme for International air travel over the past five years (2020-2024) is outlined in tabular form below. My Department will sum the total of all emissions liabilities incurred over the course of 2025 and then make a payment to the fund manager as set out in Circular 01/2020. A detailed breakdown of the carbon emissions in tabular form by...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Procurement Contracts (12 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 154, 155 and 156 together. Education Support Centres (ESC) are independent bodies recognised under Section 37 of the Education Act (1998). This legislation states that “An education support centre shall have a management committee, to manage the business and staff of that centre.” Decisions about how to run the centre to achieve the best...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Provision (12 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Education Support Centres (ESC) are independent bodies recognised under Section 37 of the Education Act (1998). This legislation states that “An education support centre shall have a management committee, to manage the business and staff of that centre.” Decisions about how to run the centre to achieve the best teacher professional learning (TPL) opportunities for all...