Results 10,881-10,900 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Equipment (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Office of Public Works acts as an agent for all Government Departments and is responsible for the provision of Government offices from the State portfolio or by lease agreement. Accordingly, my Department does not own any office buildings. Any estimated costings of defibrillators would be contingent on the variety of defibrillator models available, together with custom-built storage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Strategic Communications Unit (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: I attended a meeting with the Strategic Communication Unit on the 29th September 2017 at the Department's headquarters at Marlborough Street. The purpose of the meeting was to advise me and my officials on the remit of the Unit which will streamline communications for citizens, develop and deliver major cross Governmental campaigns and to improve the communications capacity across the Government.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff Data (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: There are four (4) Department staff working in my Press Office.  There are two (2) Executive Officers and one (1) clerical officer who report to a Higher Executive Officer. For administration purposes the Higher Executive Officer reports to the Principal Officer in the HR Unit.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff Training (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department has a budget of €475,000 this year to address the matter of staff training and development. Professional Civil Servants such as school inspectors and educational psychologists do engage in continuing professional development programmes to ensure that they keep abreast of developments in their profession. Staff training and development is available to established and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Relations Contracts Data (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: Details in relation to public relations services used for information campaigns in 2017 in my Department will not be compiled until early 2018.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: Departmental grant funding to bodies is made in compliance with central guidelines, as set out in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's Circular number 13 of 2014, "Management of and Accountability for Grants from Exchequer Funds."  The aim of these procedures is to ensure that there is transparency and accountability in the management of public money having regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Secondment (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: I am aware of the issues raised by the Deputy. My Department arranges for the secondment of teachers from their teaching posts for the purpose of developing and providing CPD for teachers and for the appointment as Directors of Education Support Centres (ESC's). Secondments are a temporary arrangement renewable on a year to year basis. While on secondment, teachers retain their school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Brexit Issues (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has responsibility for coordinating the whole-of-Government response to Brexit. In this capacity, he is working closely with colleagues across Government to address the many challenges resulting from Brexit. This cooperation also involves the relevant State Agencies. Work at Cabinet level is being supported by cross-Departmental coordination...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: This Government is committed to ensuring that all children with Special Educational Needs, including those with autism, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network. Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Council of Ireland (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015, the Teaching Council is the independent standards body and regulator for the teaching profession in Ireland. A key function of the Council is the registration of teachers and the maintenance of the register. Under section 30 of the Acts, a teacher employed in a recognized school must be registered with the Teaching Council in order to be paid...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Data (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas. My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places across these areas will arise. The GIS uses data from a range of sources, including the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 350 and 351 together. As the Deputy may be aware, my Department has been working with South Dublin County Council to acquire the site on which the school is currently located in temporary accommodation in order to facilitate the development of a permanent building for the primary school. The disposal of the site to my Department has been approved by...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland Administration (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: Student grant overpayments can occur for a range of reasons, not all of which are clearly attributable in terms of fault or error on the part of SUSI, students or colleges. In the context of a total of more than half a million grant applications processed and approximately 420,000 grants awarded by SUSI since 2012, the incidence of overpayments is low and represents less than 1% of all grant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Health Professions Admission Test (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: The third level institutions are autonomous bodies and my Department does not have a role in relation to their admissions policies. Mature Entry into the undergraduate Medicine course specified, is primarily targeted at applicants who do not hold a Level 8 Honours undergraduate degree (or equivalent). Eligible applicants are ranked on the basis of their...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: The building project to which the Deputy refers was devolved for delivery to the local Education & Training Board. The ETB is working with its Design Team to resolve all of the project snag issues. My Department understands that while some issues have been resolved, others remain. An updated snag list has been issued to the contractor to be attended to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (7 Nov 2017)

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: Ministerial Meetings (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: All diary requests are managed by my private office. A reply will issue to the organization in question shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: In 2017, my Department will invest almost €450m in access measures to assist students to participate in and complete higher and further education. In the 2016/17 academic year, 78,904 further and higher education students received a SUSI grant. The latest statistics for the total number of full-time higher and PLC students is 212,579. Based on an average maintenance grant of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: It was in recognition of the funding challenge in higher education that the Government appointed an Expert Group to examine future funding requirements for higher education and to present options for developing a sustainable long term funding strategy for the sector. The Expert Group’s report, which was published in July 2016, clearly outlines the funding challenges and offers a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Reform (7 Nov 2017)

Richard Bruton: It is not possible to definitively estimate “the cost of increasing SUSI grant thresholds by an additional 10% on top of the pre-2011 threshold if those were to be restored; and the number of estimated additional students that would be eligible under the reformed scheme”. To put it in context, in 2010/11 there were 71,532 students who benefitted from grant support at a cost...