Results 12,421-12,440 of 19,598 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department acts as paymaster for teachers employed by the management authorities of Primary, Voluntary Secondary and Community and Comprehensive Schools. My Department does not make pension contributions on behalf of teachers. However, during 2021 my Department facilitated the deduction of €204.7m in pension contributions from teachers in respect of their membership of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: Access to Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) is an important right for students. This is reflected in the Programme for Government, which states that this Government will develop inclusive and age appropriate curricula for Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) across primary and post-primary schools, including an inclusive...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (1 Feb 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. The purpose of my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application from the school in question, for capital funding under the Additional Schools Accommodation Scheme (ASA). This application is currently being processed by my officials. The school authorities will be contacted with a decision when the assessment process has been completed. The purpose of the ASA scheme is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: There are developments in two areas of my Department’s policies concerning sexual harassment. Firstly, in relation to the school curriculum, Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) is a mandatory curriculum subject in all primary schools and in post-primary Junior Cycle. Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) is required at all levels, from primary through to Senior Cycle....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: DEIS – 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. The total Department spend...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: Planning for the 2022 state examinations has been underway by my Department and the State Examinations Commission for some time. In similar fashion to 2020 and 2021, this work has been assisted by an advisory group of key stakeholders. In recent weeks, I have attended a meeting with the Advisory Group on State Examinations, which has representatives of students, parents, teachers, school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: The project refrred to be the deputy has been devolved for delivery to Laois & Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB). I can confirm that a design team to deliver this project was appointed by the ETB in late April 2021, and the Design Team is currently preparing the Stage 1 report (preliminary design). It is not possible to provide a timeline for completion of the project at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise the Deputy that the decision-making authority in respect of the status of existing schools, including whether they are single sex or co-educational, belongs to the Patron, subject to the agreement of the Department. Procedures in place since 2011 dictate that new schools are established to serve areas of significant demographic growth. This allows the Department to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: DEIS – 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. The total Department spend...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Places (1 Feb 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 Transport (1 Feb 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. My Department commenced a review...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: The Deputy will be aware that a building project for the three schools in question is included on the Department's School Building Programme to be delivered as part of the National Development Plan (NDP). Significant PE facilities are being provided for the schools concerned as part of the Buncrana campus development. These include: - PE Hall, which includes Fitness Suite, Changing Suites,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gaeltacht Policy (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: The Gaeltacht Education Policy Advisory Committee was established in March 2017 to support the phased implementation of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022. The committee, which is chaired by an official from my Department, comprises representatives from a wide range of stakeholder groups. Details of the membership along with discussion papers, agendas and minutes of all meetings can...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: ISSU was founded after the disbandment of the Union of Secondary Students of Ireland (USS) in 2008 and its primary objective is to contribute as a partner in education, to the advancement of second-level education of all second-level students. In 2013, my Department agreed to provide funding on a year-to-year basis to the ISSU to help meet its day-to-day running costs. An annual budget...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (1 Feb 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. The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools receive assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services under grant schemes. Where a school employs a staff member to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: DEIS – 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. The total Department spend...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Site Acquisition (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: Officials in my Department continue to liaise with officials in Cork City Council in relation to the identification and acquisition of suitable sites for the school in question. A potential suitable site has been identified in conjunction with the Local Authority and discussions are ongoing with the relevant stakeholders in relation to exploring all options available to my Department to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, the Supreme Court delivered its judgments on January 24th in the appeals taken in two cases regarding Calculated Grades in 2020 for home schooled students. It is important to highlight that the students concerned were provided with Calculated Grades in 2020 following the initial High Court rulings in their cases. The appeals brought initially to the Court of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Site Acquisition (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise that a permanent site for the school referred to by the Deputy has been identified and that my Department is in advanced discussions with another public body to acquire a site. However, due to the confidential nature of these discussions, it is not possible to provide further information at this time. My Department will keep the patron informed of any key developments in...