Results 1,161-1,180 of 15,342 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Since 2020, my department has invested over €5.7 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 1,150 school building projects.? Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in the coming months, investments by the Department of Education are adding over 550,000 square metres of new and modernised capacity to our...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: There is a curricular subject requirement for registration under ‘Route 2: Post-primary’ which falls under the Teaching Council’s statutory functions set out in Section 31(5) of the Teaching Council Act 2001 and Route 2 of the Teaching Council [Registration] Regulations 2016: ‘A person who applies to be entered on the register on the basis of qualifications as a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Teaching Council is the regulator of the teaching profession in Ireland. Their role is to protect the public by promoting and regulating professional standards in teaching. They do this through the statutory registration of teachers, ensuring a highly qualified teaching profession, whose members meet and uphold high standards of professional competence and conduct. All initial teacher...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Department’s Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027 articulates that the education system must equip children and young people with the appropriate knowledge and competence as they navigate the online world, supporting them in the safe, ethical use of the internet Online safety and the safe and ethical use of digital technologies is a key component of the Department’s...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 401 and 422 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that all applications from schools for major capital works must be considered in the context of capacity requirements and climate action commitments. The priority of my Department continues to be the provision of required additional school places to meet demographic requirements as well as for children with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Since 2020, the Department of Education has invested in the region of €5.7 billion to add capacity and develop and upgrade school facilities across the country for the almost one million students and over 100,000 staff that learn and work in our schools every day. The Minor Works Grant is one important element of this record level of capital investment in school infrastructure with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Programmes (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy may be aware, the purpose of the Summer Works Scheme (SWS) is to enable individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works on a devolved basis and, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school. The SWS operates on a multi-annual basis for a number of categories and was last opened for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies, or to provide funding to facilitate inclusion and access for pupils with special needs. It does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation. An emergency is deemed to be a situation...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Since 2020, my department has invested over €5.7 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 1,150 school building projects and with construction currently underway at approximately 300 other projects, which includes new school buildings some of which are being delivered in phases. These 300 projects currently at construction involve a total State...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Consultations (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department seeks, where possible, to minimise legal fees and avails of the services of the Chief State Solicitor's Office, the Attorney General's Office and the State Claims Agency in terms of the provision of legal advice and representation of the Department in Court cases. However, occasionally it engages private solicitor firms and counsel for legal advice and services. The schedule...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Procurement Contracts (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department in the format requested. Officials in my Department will collate this information and I will arrange to have it forwarded to the Deputy directly. The information in respect of aegis bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Procurement Contracts (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department in the format requested. Officials in my Department will collate this information and I will arrange to have it forwarded to the Deputy directly. The information in respect of aegis bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (25 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 daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. This figure includes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school referred to was approved to enter my Department’s pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide 2 SET rooms under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The responsibility for this project has been devolved to the school authority. I can confirm the project is currently at Stage 1/2A and the school has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy, that the school in question received approval under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, for 2x Special education tuition rooms. This project has been devolved to the school authorities for delivery and is currently at stage 1 of the delivery process. The purpose of the Department’s ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Supporting special educational needs (SEN) provision in schools is a priority for my Department. The furniture and equipment needs of children with special educational needs is highly sensitive and individualised and as a result applications for funding are generally dealt with on a case-by-case basis as opposed to a general level of grant funding. A school that has an existing or approved...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (25 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 daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. This figure includes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including CSO census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (25 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: Education and Training Boards (25 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Education and Training Boards (ETBs) were established under the which provides that each ETB is a statutory body having its own corporate status. It is therefore the responsibility of each ETB to manage the day to day operation of the organisation, including the management of staff. It should be noted that under the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 an employee has...