Results 12,741-12,760 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Languages Programme (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: Educational supports are on the basis of identified need.  At both primary and post-primary levels, additional language support is provided for students who do not speak English as their first language.  English as an Additional Language (EAL) resources are designed to allow individual students to participate in mainstream education on a par with their peers. Additional supports are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The public consultation process on the role of denominational religion in the school admissions process and possible approaches for making changes accepted written submissions from 24th January to 20th March 2017. Almost 1,000 written submissions were received. 744 submissions were made by individuals, 118 submissions were made by schools and 62 submissions were made by stakeholder...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The public consultation process on the role of denominational religion in the school admissions process and possible approaches for making changes accepted written submissions from 24th January to 20th March 2017. Almost 1,000 written submissions were received. 744 submissions were made by individuals, 118 submissions were made by schools and 62 submissions were made by stakeholder...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: Equality and fairness are of course at the heart of everything this Government is trying to do, particularly in the education area where I am particularly focused on creating better opportunities for people from disadvantaged areas in our schools system and in higher education. The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants to start. I have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: 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: Legislative Process (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, last June, the Government proposed and the Dáil agreed that the Labour Party’s Equal Status (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 would come before the Dáil for a second stage hearing no earlier than 28th June 2017 to allow for scrutiny by the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills and for the Committee to consider submissions and hold hearings. As...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Redeployment (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent/CID holding teachers to schools that have vacancies. Thereafter, schools are required under the panel arrangements to fill permanent vacancies from supplementary panels comprised of eligible fixed-term (temporary/substitute) and part-time teachers. Circular 0074/2016 sets out the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy is referring to one of actions of the Report of the STEM Education Review Group. At the launch of the STEM Report I prioritised the implementation of 21 of the Report’s 47 actions.  One of the actions was to publish a STEM Education policy statement and implementation plan, which I intend to finalise in the coming months.  As part of the process in developing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I can inform the Deputy that my Department is actively working with the Public Appointments Service (PAS) to fill NEPS psychologist vacancies nationally from a recruitment panel established this year for this purpose. It is envisaged that some 11 staff will be recruited by the end of the current academic year in this regard. The Deputy may be aware that my Department's National...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: Budget 2016 provided for additional release days for teaching principals at primary level to range between 15 and 25 days depending on the size of the school.  Budget 2017 also provides for the commencement of the restoration of middle management posts in both the primary and post-primary sector with effect from the 2017/18 school year. Arrangements for delivery of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: Combined classes are a feature of many primary schools in the country and this arrangement has no adverse implications for the quality of the education children receive.  The configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. School authorities are requested to ensure that the number of pupils in any one class is kept as low as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training Provision (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The teaching of mixed classes, or multi-class teaching as it is more commonly known, is an important aspect of differentiated teaching and learning. All students in initial teacher education courses study the area of differentiation as a mandatory element of their programme, which is set out by the Teaching Council.  Students must also undertake a minimum of two placement settings...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Applications (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The key data sources used in the DEIS identification process are the DES Primary Online Database (POD) and Post-Primary Online (PPOD) Databases, and CSO data from the National Census of Population as represented in the Pobal HP Index for Small Areas which is a method of measuring the relative affluence or disadvantage of a particular geographical area. Variables used in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: Caranua is an independent statutory body. While my Department has provided advice and assistance to it in regard to its accommodation requirements, statutory responsibility for the decisions taken in regard to accommodation are a matter for the organisation itself and I have no role in those decision making processes. My Department is not in a position to allocate space in any of its...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: Since my appointment as Minister for Education and Skills in May 2016 I have not approved any proposals submitted by Caranua under section 7(7) of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012. Under that provision Caranua may, as it considers it necessary for the performance of its functions and with the approval of the Minister, enter into contracts with persons or to engage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Panel Rights (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The teacher referred to by the Deputy applied for access to the Supplementary Redeployment Panel. Having reviewed his salary scale point and incremental date he should be on Point three of the Salary Scale w.e.f. from the 11/9/16 for supplementary panel purposes and Point three on the Salary Scale w.e.f. 11/12//16 for payroll purposes. The person referred to is eligible for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The means test arrangements of the Student Grant Scheme are applied nationally on the same basis to both employed and self-employed applicants. Gross income before the deduction of income tax or the universal social charge, is assessed with certain specified social welfare and health service executive payments excluded. The assessment of income from the same starting point is deemed to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: International Summits (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The International Summit on the Teaching Profession is one of a number of initiatives that are organised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in the area of education policy. The Summit on the Teaching Profession is organised by the OECD in conjunction with a number of partners, including Education International and the international organisation of teachers’...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 and 130 together. 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....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Legislative Process (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Programme for Government outlines that this Government will continue to support the creation of Technological Universities.  This is in line with the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 which provides a framework for the development of the higher education sector to 2030.  The third Government Legislative Programme of this new Partnership Government was published...