Results 11,181-11,200 of 19,598 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department is committed to ensuring that all schools are treated equally and fairly in the manner in which they have been identified for inclusion in the DEIS programme. Schools who were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data will now have the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed. Circular...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 contains a provision which requires that school enrolment policies must include details of the school's arrangements for any students who do not wish to attend religious instruction. This is an important measure to help ensure transparency from the outset as to how a school will uphold the rights of parents in this regard. Section 30 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Pay (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The current public service agreement, Building Momentum, is in place until the end of this year. The value of public pay deals to the Government and the taxpayer is ensuring that pay costs are managed in a sustainable and orderly way and in a climate of industrial peace. The Government acknowledges that current price pressures present particular challenges and are a source of concern...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Pay (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The current public service agreement, Building Momentum, is in place until the end of this year. The value of public pay deals to the Government and the taxpayer is ensuring that pay costs are managed in a sustainable and orderly way and in a climate of industrial peace. The Government acknowledges that current price pressures present particular challenges and are a source of concern...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: I am advised by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) that the role of the team in the National University of Galway (NUIG) is to support the analysis of the consultation data on the new draft specifications for Leaving Certificate Irish. I am informed that NUIG is analysing the responses to the on-line surveys and written submissions, whilst the NCCA is analysing the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools is the main policy initiative of my Department to address educational disadvantage at school level. In the 2021/22 academic year there are 884 schools in the DEIS Programme - 687 Primary and 197 Post Primary, serving over 180,000 pupils. This represents approximately 20% of the overall school population. On the 9th March, I announced the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The policy of my Department is to support the use of school premises and facilities for community, recreational and education-related purposes. This includes the use of school facilities after school hours and during schools hours where the use will not impact on current or future education provision in the school. In 2017 Guidance on the use of School Buildings outside of School Hours,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Health and Safety (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: Under the provisions of the Education Act, 1998 the Board of Management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school. The Department is aware that positive action has been taken by many schools on the issue of heavy school bags. Actions consist of a range of measures, including the provision of lockers and in the case of second level school the arrangement of the timetable...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Crime Prevention (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department is working along with other Government Departments and agencies to support full implementation of the Government’s national drug strategy - Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery 2017-2025 and is leading on a number of actions to build the skills, knowledge and resilience and well-being in all of our young people so they are equipped to deal with the challenges they face,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department makes supports available for children where English is an additional language. These supports are available generally in schools who have large numbers of children for whom English/Irish is not their first language but it has been of particular importance in recent weeks to support the large numbers of children enrolled in our schools coming from Ukraine. English Additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (12 May 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. As the Deputy is aware, the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate 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: School Transport (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. 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. Under the terms of the School...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The school to which the Deputy refers was approved funding under the Additional Accommodation Scheme 2020 to build a three-classroom SEN Base and enabling works to create ASD class. A Stage 1 submission was received recently in my Department; this submission is currently under review and my Department will revert to the school upon completion.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The SEC provides a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations at the Certificate Examinations (RACE Scheme) to support candidates with a complex variety of special educational needs including learning difficulties as well as permanent or temporary physical, visual, hearing, medical, sensory, emotional, behavioural or other conditions. In common with similar schemes which operate in other...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Schemes (12 May 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 Education and Skills: School Curriculum (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware, on 29 March I announced an ambitious programme of work for a reimagined Senior Cycle of education where the student is at the centre of their Senior Cycle experience. I set out a clear vision for Senior Cycle, building upon the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s (NCCA’s) Advisory Report. The NCCA’s review of senior cycle involved an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: Under Project Ireland 2040, the education sector will receive a total of approximately €4.4 billion capital investment over the period 2021-2025. This significant investment allows us to move forward with certainty on our ambitious plans and deliver high quality building projects, with a real focus on sustainability, for school communities across Ireland. This investment will build...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, for school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: School secretaries and caretakers are valued members of our school communities and my Department is fully aware of the vitally important role played by them in the running of our schools. On the 24th February, following a series of engagements at the WRC, a package to settle a claim on terms and conditions for grant-funded school secretaries was proposed, which Fórsa agreed to...