Results 13,401-13,420 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training Provision (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department provides for a comprehensive system of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers in the area of special educational needs. Central to this is the Special Education Support Service (SESS) whose brief is to enhance the quality of learning and teaching of students with special educational needs through the provision of CPD and support for teachers in mainstream...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7th March 2017. These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools. The revised allocation process replaces the generalised allocation processes at primary and post primary school level for learning...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Expenditure (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department allocates recurrent funding (including core grant funding and free fees funding) to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the HEA designated higher education institutions. The HEA allocates this funding to the institutions and the internal disbursement of funding is then a matter for the individual institution. Higher Education Institutions are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Assistance Fund (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The 2017 allocation for the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students for Disabilities is €17,422,000. The Higher Education Authority determine how this funding is allocated between the two funds based on applications received from the Higher Education Institutions. 

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Modern Language Teaching (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative (MLPSI) was a pilot scheme with an annual budget of approximately €2.5m . Funding ceased for this initiative from 2012.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Data (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Teacher allocations to all second level schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment.  The criteria for the allocation of posts are communicated to school managements annually and are available on the Department's website.  In accordance with these rules each school management authority is required to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Exact expenditure figures regarding the teaching of Computer Science or Coding in schools are not available, as funding is not allocated by my Department on a subject-by-subject basis.  However, work in this area is taking place at both primary and post-primary levels.  Statistics from the last academic year indicate that there were in excess of 10,800 Continuing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Expenditure (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Active School Flag (ASF) is a Department initiative where schools are recognised for striving to achieve a physically educated and physically active school community.  My Department allocated €175,000 for the initiative in 2016.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Expenditure (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Wellbeing is concerned with enhancing the physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing of students. Therefore, the area of learning includes Physical Education (PE), Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE). Schools can include other areas in their provision for wellbeing, such as guidance. At primary level wellbeing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Expenditure (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Please see below the total cost per undergraduate student per year in each of the requested specialisms.  For professional accreditation, students would need to follow some of these undergraduate courses with a relevant postgraduate qualification. Specialism Cost per UG student per year Cost for 100 UG students per year Nursing €10,500 €1,050,000 Speech and Language...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (11 Apr 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: Departmental Reports (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Haddington Road Agreement provided for the establishment of Expert Groups to consider and report on the level of fixed-term and part-time employment in teaching and third-level lecturing, having regard to the importance for staff of employment stability and security and taking account of system and employer needs and Teaching Council registration requirements. The Ward Report in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Croke Park Agreement (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Croke Park hours are part of wider productivity measures introduced under the Public Service Agreements that require all public servants to work additional time for no additional payment. The Croke Park hours represent a real reform with significant benefits for parents and children. In schools, the Croke Park hours are 33 additional hours a year at post primary (36 hours at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Circular 12/2016, which is available on the Department website, outlines the number of days that teaching principals may take as release time in a school year in order to assist them fulfilling their principal duties. Under these arrangements my Department pays for a substitute teacher to be employed by a school to facilitate administrative functions to be undertaken by the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: There are limited alleviation arrangements in place for schools that are acutely affected by the impact of the moratorium at Assistant Principal level. These arrangements are mainly focused at post-primary level. It is fair to say that before the moratorium, due to the way the allowances were structured, notwithstanding the fact that one out of every two teachers held a management...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Guidance Counsellors (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Measures announced by my Department as part of Budget 2016 and 2017 mean that 400 guidance posts, or two thirds of the guidance allocation that was withdrawn in Budget 2012, will be restored to schools from September 2017. All these 400 posts are allocated separately and transparently and outside of the quota on the normal schedule of posts. The provision of 1 guidance counsellor...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Professional Development (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: A key objective in the Action Plan for Education 2016 – 2019 is to develop the continuum of teacher education to equip teachers with the right skills for 21st century teaching and learning and improve school leadership. The quality of our teaching profession is the single most critical factor in sustaining and enhancing the quality of education outcomes in our system. We know that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (11 Apr 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.  Budget 2012 increased the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The average cost of a primary EAL teacher is €60,000 while the average cost of a post primary EAL teacher is €63,000. The level of extra teaching support provided in respect of language support to schools is determined by the numbers of eligible pupils enrolled and the associated levels of those pupils' language proficiency. Earlier this year, I announced that a new...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Expenditure (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that Budget 2017 allocated €5m in additional funding to the current DEIS allocation of €97m for 2017 - equivalent to a full year value of €15m.  Consequently, the overall allocation by my Department for DEIS in 2017/18 will be in the region of €112m.  Accordingly, the cost  to my Department of extending the DEIS...