Results 12,381-12,400 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: To reassure the Deputies, the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill was drafted and largely built on the Bill by my predecessor. That will be on Committee Stage next Wednesday. That Bill, which deals with-----

Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: Let me answer. That is the Bill that was drafted to deal with admissions. There is much consensus on how we should deal with, for example, giving powers to the NCSE to designate a place for a pupil with special needs or making it illegal to discriminate on all sorts of grounds in admissions. It is an important Bill. The Dáil decided that the second issue, the issue of how we deal...

Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: What we need is an amendment that is robust at the end of the day.

Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I need to ensure I have a legally robust amendment so we can deal with this issue. I share the belief of all that we need to change this.

Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: No, I am very happy for it to go to Committee Stage.

Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Martin for raising this issue. There has been substantial progress. As the Deputy knows, we negotiated with the TUI, which was the obstacle to this. That has now been approved by ballot by the TUI and, on foot of that, we will be bringing forward amendments and I will be going to Government for permission to draft those amendments within the next couple of weeks. Obviously,...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: School Admissions (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Senator for raising this matter. It is a very important issue. As he rightly says, the census shows the degree to which our society is changing. As of today, probably northwards of 20% of young parents express either no religion or none of the established religions. It poses a challenge to our system in which 96% of schools are denominational. We have to approach this on a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: School Admissions (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: To be fair to schools under religious control, many operate a very open policy. As I said, only 20% of them are over-subscribed. The remainder admit every pupil regardless of background and many of them do so in a very good way. Perhaps not all meet the very best requirements and we are trying to develop that. We will have a parents and students charter and, under the Education (Admission...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: Under the provisions of the Education Act 1998, the Board of Management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school.  The welfare and safety of pupils is of paramount importance and schools have a duty of care to the pupils under their control.  School management should, therefore, take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that no pupil or staff member...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The project to which the Deputy referrs was authorised to proceed to tender in October 2016. Tenders are due back in mid-July.  Subject to no issues arising it is anticipated that construction will commence in late 2017 and the project is scheduled to take approximately 18 months to complete. Following requests from other members of the Oireachtas, including Deputy Alan Farrell...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The project referred to by the Deputy was authorised to proceed to tender in October 2016. However, as the pre-qualification of contractors had first been conducted by the design team in April 2015 the design team, concerned about the possibility of legal challenges, asked the Office of Government Procurement for advice on this matter. The advice was that it would be prudent to run the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: As a consequence of the financial crisis, there was a need to enact a number of measures to reduce public expenditure so as to stabilise the country's public finances. A previous Government reduced the salaries and allowances payable to all new entrants to public service recruitment grades by 10% with effect from 1 January 2011. This decision also required that such new entrants would start...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: English Language Training Organisations (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The majority of English language schools in Ireland are privately run.  The relationship between teachers and private providers of education is based on a private contract, and issues relating to working conditions are a matter between the two parties and do not come under the remit of my Department.  If teachers working in the English language sector have a concern about their...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the matter of enrolments is one for managerial authorities of schools who are required to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.  In regard to the school referred to by the Deputy, it is a matter for the Board of Management to determine the number of junior infant places available for September 2017.  ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Contracts Data (21 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The information sought be the Deputy in respect of the amount spent by my department in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 is set out in the following table. The information in relation to 2017 has not yet been collated. The information requested by the Deputy in respect of agencies is not held centrally by the Department. If the Deputy has an interest in a particular agency then officials in my...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I thank Senator Reilly for raising this matter, which is about the second phase of accommodation for Lusk. As stated by Senator Reilly, the first phase was completed some years ago. This project will provide permanent accommodation to cater for the full projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils, including a special needs unit, a sports hall with a fitness suite and changing facilities and...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I will check the history of this. I can only go back to November 2015 when this was announced as being on a building programme. The Department has moved that ahead of the schedule that was then set out. No Senator knows better than Senator Reilly the difficulties we went through between 2010 and 2014 which was the planning date initially hoped for. No doubt one of the reasons for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to primary schools is published annually on the website of the Department of Education and Skills. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Student Grant Scheme for the academic year 2017/18, was published on the 31stof March 2017. The qualifying criteria for the special rate of maintenance grant is as follows: 1. The student must qualify for the standard rate of grant; 2. Total reckonable income, after income disregards and Child Dependant Increase(s) are excluded, must not exceed €23,000; and 3. As at 31st December...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Action Plan for Education 2017 provides that the new subject of Leaving Certificate Computer Science will be implemented in schools from September 2018. The new subject specification is currently being developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment through its subject development group for Computer Science. Phase 1 of the implementation process is scheduled...