Results 12,681-12,700 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Priority Questions: Back to School Costs (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I am glad the Deputy welcomes this measure. Each year, the Irish League of Credit Unions outlines the pressure on parents in terms of school costs. Surveys carried out by my Department have shown that the principles I have put into this keen cost approach are ones that parents generally support. The type of issues we will be looking at in terms of whether a school is compliant include...

Priority Questions: Back to School Costs (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: What we are doing is introducing fairly practical measures to establish compliance with these principles. We are also introducing a parent and student charter and we are giving parents more say in the decisions that schools make. We are trying to reach a situation whereby everyone feels it is in the interests of the school and the parent group to ensure that costs are kept to a minimum in...

Priority Questions: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Pringle for raising this issue. Under the terms of my Department's student grant scheme, grant assistance is available to eligible students attending approved third level courses in approved institutions. An approved course is a full-time undergraduate course of not less than two years' duration or a full time postgraduate course of not less than one year's duration pursued...

Priority Questions: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: By way of background, there is an element of international consistency in the way we do this. I understand that all countries adopt a similar approach. Supports for higher education programmes, but not PLC-type programmes, is the consistent practice across most member states of the EU. If one introduces a scheme that extends support to one EU country, one is under obligation to provide a...

Priority Questions: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: There is an issue of reciprocity. If Ireland provides certain supports for participation in a college overseas there is an expectation that a citizen from overseas has the right of participation in an Irish college. There is a quid pro quofor any extension in this respect and it is not as simple as deciding to pick a country or college and extending support to that place because of its...

Priority Questions: Student Retention Rates (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Higher Education Authority, HEA, has recently published its latest study of progression in Irish higher education, which provides an analysis of data relating to non-progression in 2013-14 of full-time undergraduate new entrants to HEA funded institutions.  The study shows that the proportion of new entrants who did not progress overall is 15% across all sectors and National...

Priority Questions: Student Retention Rates (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: There are initiatives that are proving successful. This is about looking at the individual students, asking why they drop out and seeing what has gone wrong. Some of the access programmes have been very successful because they support students right through their transition and perhaps offer help with supplementary studies. Sometimes mathematics might be a problem, for example, for...

Priority Questions: Student Retention Rates (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy has raised a number of issues. With regard to guidance counselling, 66% of the guidance provision will be back in place by this coming September. It is hoped this will equip young people to make better choices. The Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, has outlined the ambition to treble the number of places on apprenticeships and traineeships over the next four years. This would...

Priority Questions: Back to School Costs (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: My ambition is to make the education and training service the best within a decade. To deliver on my ambition to be the best, we have to improve information and complaint procedures for parents and students, particularly in relation to costs. I want to give parents a strong voice in ensuring costs are always kept to a minimum. My Department recently published circular 32/2017, which...

Priority Questions: Autism Support Services (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The NCSE is the body that advises me. I do not make the decision as to whether a special class is needed. The figures show that the number of ASD units is growing more rapidly at second level than at primary level, albeit as the Deputy said that there are more units at primary level at present. There will be 281 units this coming September at second level. It is the NCSE that advises on...

Priority Questions: Autism Support Services (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: It is very important to say the NCSE has been given the authority, because it is composed of the experts in this field, to decide what is best practice for pupils involved. It reports that there is a good and improving range of placement options, including appropriate settings both at preschool, primary and second level. The NCSE is looking at the need to evolve each year. As the Deputy...

Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Cassells for raising this issue. I wish to advise him that it is my Department's intention to relocate the school in question to St. Mary's national school in Patrick Street, Trim, to meet the school's permanent accommodation needs. The property in question transferred to the Minister's ownership last year. This building is a listed structure that...

Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: It does seem that the issue at the heart of the matter relates to the complexity of the refurbishment of a listed structure. I understand the Deputy's concern if the current location is not satisfactory for parents. However, my Department will have to be satisfied that the investment represents the best value for money and is the best solution for parents and children in the longer term. I...

Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I take the Deputy's point. However, we feel we need to have professional regulatory bodies looking at the standards that we all reach - the Teaching Council in the case of education and, obviously, this pharmaceutical body in the case of pharmacists. When we get a recommendation from people in whose competence we place faith, we have to take that seriously. I understand that there is this...

Priority Questions: DEIS Status (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Schools are not required to apply for inclusion in DEIS. The new DEIS identification process uses centrally-held data available to my Department to independently assess all schools in the country. The DEIS identification process uses data supplied by schools to my Department's primary and post-primary online databases and Central...

Priority Questions: DEIS Status (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I assure the Deputy that this system was introduced following a careful review. A very detailed analysis of this was done before this system was introduced. The indicators that are being used, demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates, are found to be very closely associated with educational...

Priority Questions: DEIS Status (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I do not accept that at all. The reality is that 2% of schools were selected for DEIS categorisation, meaning that 98% were not selected. Deputies can always point to some school in that 98% that could represent disadvantage and I have no doubt that they do so in good faith. Only 2% of schools were uplifted, but these were selected on the highest level of disadvantage based on the...

Priority Questions: DEIS Status (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: -----against the criteria we are advised are the best associated with education disadvantage.

Priority Questions: DEIS Status (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The process looks at every pupil enrolled in each school. It goes right back to the origin of where they are living. It uses the indicators of disadvantage in those specific small areas to aggregate a picture of the level of concentrated disadvantage in the school. This is absolutely looking at the individual circumstances of each school. Every child is looked at under this review....

Priority Questions: Autism Support Services (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which is of concern to many Members. Almost 18,000 students in schools have been diagnosed with autism. My Department invests over €300 million annually in providing additional resources specifically to support students with autism in schools, enabling: 63% of students to attend mainstream schools; 26% to attend special classes in...