Results 13,241-13,260 of 20,002 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Protected Disclosures (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: In accordance with Section 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, my Department has published information on protected disclosures received during 2018, 2019 and 2020 online at: In summary, in 2018, 3 protected disclosures were received from workers in the Education sector. In 2019, 1 protected disclosure was received from workers in the Education sector. In 2020, 2 protected...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Social Enterprise Sector (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy that the promotion and support of the social enterprise sector is not part of the remit of my Department and, accordingly, no specific funding for the promotion and support of the sector has been allocated by my Department for 2022.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: In accordance with the provisions of the Education Act 1998, the appointment of a board of management of a school is a matter for the relevant school patron. Under the provisions of this Act, where a Patron determines that the appointment of a Board is not practicable, the Patron may appoint a manager or managers to perform the functions of the Board. In the case of the school in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: The project for the school referred to by the deputy has been devolved to the Waterford & Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB) for delivery. I can confirm that a Design Team to deliver this project was appointed by WWETB in February of this year, and the Design Team is now preparing the Stage 1 Report (preliminary design). As the project is at an early stage in the delivery...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2020/21 school year over 114,100 children, including over 14,700 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €224.7m in 2020. Planning for school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: Managing ventilation is just one of a suite of public health measures in place to keep our schools safe. Updated guidance for schools on Practical Steps for the Deployment of Good Ventilation Practices in Schools was provided at the end of May following the work of an expert group that carefully considered the role of ventilation in managing COVID-19. A copy of the guidance is published on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Administration (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department has recently implemented a range of measures to address supply of substitute teacher in schools, including a significant increase in teachers on the primary school supply panels, facilitating post primary teachers to work additional hours, postponing CPD for teachers (other than planned CPD for post primary teachers relating to reforms in Senior Cycle examinable subjects) and,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Administration (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: The Department of Education has worked collaboratively with the Department of Health and the HSE to support the delivery of important public health messages to school communities – students, staff and parents. Schools have been provided with a wide range of posters, videos and resource materials to support them and to support onward communication to students and parents. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: Managing ventilation is just one of a suite of public health measures in place to keep our schools safe. Updated guidance for schools on Practical Steps for the Deployment of Good Ventilation Practices in Schools was provided at the end of May following the work of an expert group that carefully considered the role of ventilation in managing COVID-19. A copy of the guidance is published on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: Ensuring that schools can operate safely has been a key priority for me as Minister for Education. My Department has always been guided by public health advice in relation to appropriate Covid-19 infection prevention and control measures in place in schools. These measures protect students, their parents and school staff and are very effective. As of the 27th September 2021, a decision was...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 315 and 316 together. Under Action 88 of the DEIS Plan my Department has undertaken a review of out-of school education provision. This review has been carried out by a Working Group chaired by my Department and including representatives from Tusla and the Education and Training Board sector. This review has been informed through the use of questionnaires,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: I can advise the Deputy that significant progress has been made to date under Languages Connect, Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017 – 2026 which aims to increase and diversify the range of languages taught and learned. Implementation of Languages Connect is overseen by a Foreign Languages Advisory Group. Some of the actions taken to date include: - The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: The main instrument to promote exchangees between Irish and other EU schools is the Erasmus+ programme which supports schools that want to organise learning mobility activities for school pupils and staff. In 2020, over €7m in EU Erasmus +funding was provided as support for both primary and secondary schools in Ireland. Mobility activities provide learning opportunities to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: The approach to supporting schools to operate safely during Covid-19 has been to follow and implement public health advice. Public health has reviewed the measures put in place to ensure safe operation of schools and is satisfied that that compliance with these measures ensure that schools remain low risk for children and staff. It is clear that there is a significant negative impact from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: To alleviate the teacher supply difficulties, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in January 2021 approved, for a limited period of 3 years, a 50 day waiver of abatement of Public Service Pensions under section 52 (4) of the Single Pension Scheme and other Provisions Act (2012)., for all appropriately qualified teachers. The waiver has been extended recently to the end of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 322 and 323 together. Managing ventilation is just one of a suite of public health measures in place to keep our schools safe. Updated guidance for schools on Practical Steps for the Deployment of Good Ventilation Practices in Schools was provided at the end of May following the work of an expert group that carefully considered the role of ventilation in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2020/21 school year over 114,100 children, including over 14,700 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €224.7m in 2020. For the 2021/22 school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: The role of the school is to provide an appropriate education for all its pupils and having a stable, secure learning environment is an essential requirement to achieve this goal. My Department provides a range of programmes and initiatives to support schools to provide an inclusive learning environment for all learners. My Department's ‘Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: The 5 day rule applies to all unregistered persons employed in the place of registered teachers. As the Deputy will be aware, my Department has engaged with the education stakeholders in recent weeks on the issues raised about the difficulty accessing substitutes for teacher absences at this time. Recognising that there are pressures in this area at the moment due to COVID-19, my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2021)

Norma Foley: The email issued from the Department’s dedicated email account that is used to disseminate COVID-19 related information to all schools. Schools are familiar with the normal communication channels that the Department avails for the dissemination of Covid related guidance to the school system. As the Deputy will be aware, given the evolving nature of COVID-19, it is imperative to...