Results 10,721-10,740 of 20,002 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early Childhood Care and Education (14 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department's main intervention in the provision of early years education is the Early Start programme. The Early Start programme was established in 1994, and is a one-year intervention to meet the needs of children aged between 3 years and 5 years who are at risk of not reaching their potential within the school system. It involves an educational programme to enhance overall development,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department provides funding to all recognised schools in the Free Education Scheme by way of per capita grants which are paid based on the number of students enrolled in the school. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Cost of Living Issues (14 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: I fully appreciate the concerns of teachers and indeed society generally in relation to housing and increases in living costs. The Government acknowledges that current price pressures present particular challenges and are a source of concern for all public service workers, including teachers. While the issue of pay alone will not resolve these issues, the Government is committed to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department provides funding to recognised Primary and Post Primary 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 such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance, general up-keep etc. and the Ancillary/School Services Support Fund (SSSF) to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (14 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: Following the commencement of the National Vetting Bureau [ Children and Vulnerable Persons ] Act of 2012 by the then Minister for Justice and Equality on the 29 April 2016 (other than section 20 ) my Department issued Circular 31/2016 to all school Authorities and Education Training Boards advising of the statutory obligations placed on school authorities by the Act to obtain a vetting...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (14 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998. The Capital Programme details the school projects that are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: 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 classroom and Special Education Needs (SEN) accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that funding was approved under the Additional Accommodation Scheme 2021 to enable the school in question to build a 2 Classroom SEN base. The project has been devolved for delivery to the School Authority with the assistance of the Joint Managerial Body (JMB). The school has procured a consultant who will lead the project through the various stages of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (14 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: The joint major building project for the schools referred to by the Deputy will be delivered under my Department's ADAPT Programme. ADAPT is an acronym which stands for the "Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning and Tendering". The ADAPT Programme uses a professional external Project Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Data (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. The cost in 2021 was over €289m. The purpose of my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: School Transport (14 Jul 2022)

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

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Bodies (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: The role of the school is to provide an appropriate education for all its pupils. Schools have autonomy in choosing the resources and programmes that best support the work within their own classrooms. The curriculum, as approved by the Minister, at both primary and post primary level, is considered to be for all learners regardless of race, religion, socioeconomic background, gender or...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: I would like to inform the Deputy that any school that wishes to appeal a decision not to grant funding under the emergency works scheme should email emergency_works@education.gov.ie with their request, outlining what additional facts they wish to be considered which if had been known at the time may have influenced the outcome of the decision.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: The Summer Works Scheme operates on a multi-annual basis. It is envisaged that the next Summer Works Scheme will have a strong climate focus and will open for applications from schools in the latter half of 2022. My Department will announce the details of same in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: School Admissions (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the school management to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Acts, 1998-2018. The Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: School Transport (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. The purpose of my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Expenditure (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 473 to 476, inclusive, together. I recognise the key role school leadership has in promoting a school environment which is welcoming, inclusive and accountable. Budget 2017 allowed for the commencement of restoration of middle management posts as part of an agreed distributed leadership model and meant lifting the rigidity of the longstanding...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: School Transport (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. Children are eligible for...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Expenditure (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy, that each 1 point adjustment to the primary staffing schedule creates an approximate 300 additional mainstream posts. It should be noted that such an adjustment may not warrant provision of additional accommodation across all primary schools as some schools may have capacity within their existing buildings to cater for staff increases. Allowing for...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: National Educational Psychological Service (14 Jul 2022)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 481 and 481 together. I can inform the Deputy that the average direct pay and non-pay cost of employing one main grade Educational Psychologist in the NEPS service is €76,000 per annum. The number of NEPS psychologists employed currently stands at 225 whole-time equivalents across the NEPS regions and the annual pay cost of the 225 psychologists is...