Results 13,641-13,660 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 259 to 262, inclusive, together. The Deputy will be aware that I ran a public consultation process from 24th January to 20th March 2017 on the role of religion in the school admission process and possible approaches for making changes. I believe that it is unfair that preference is given by publicly funded religious schools to children of their own...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Under the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 Enhancing Teacher Learning and Assessment, some €210m has been committed to address ICT infrastructure requirements in schools. The first tranche of this funding, some €30m, has been distributed to schools in respect of the 2016-2017 school year. Under the terms of this funding, as detailed at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy may be aware, the Department is working closely with South Dublin County Council towards acquiring a permanent site to meet the needs of the new post primary school due to open in September 2018 in the area to which he refers. The building project for this new post-primary school is included on my Department’s six year construction programme.  The school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Establishment (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: On 28 November 2016 applications were invited for the patronage of four new primary schools to be established in 2017 and 2018, including the new primary school to which the Deputy refers.  The closing date for receipt of applications for this process was 6 January 2017.  Patrons submitted with their application a parental preference template in which parents have been...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and Circular 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 process at primary and post primary school level for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Information (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department provides funding to the National Braille Production Centre (NBPC) which provides access to educational materials by transcriptions through a range of formats, accessible for children with a visual impairment. The service facilitates the supply of textbooks in Braille, Large Print and Audio format for blind pupils and visually impaired pupils in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Catchment Areas (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas. The GIS uses data from a range of sources, including the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the contractor responded to the Letter of Intent on the 21st March last.  The response is currently being examined by the ETB's Design Team. Assuming that the contractor has complied with the requirements of the Letter of Intent, it is envisaged that construction will commence on site shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Springboard Programme (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: In order for formerly self-employed applicants to take up a place on a Springboard+ course, they must demonstrate that they are no longer self-employed. There is no one specific means by which they may do this. Evidence of their status may be demonstrated through providing revenue documentation, including evidence that they are no longer registered as self-employed for tax purposes; or by...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: English Language Training Organisations (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP) is maintained by the Department of Justice and Equality in association with my Department. End of course exams are a compulsory requirement to achieve a listing on the ILEP.  All students are required to be registered for these exams and providers are obliged to submit a monthly return on student exam registration to the Department of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm that the school in question has applied to my Department for funding for the works to which the Deputy refers. Additional information has been requested from the school.  Once received, this will be reviewed and a decision will issue directly to the school authority.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Emergency Works Scheme Applications (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The funding request to which the Deputy refers has been assessed in my Department.  However, as the application is outside the scope of the Emergency Works Scheme and as my Department does not fund monitored security systems, the application was refused.  The school has been informed accordingly.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm that my Department received an application from the school to which the Deputy refers for a major capital project which included a request for significant additional accommodation. My Department is currently considering the application concerned and will shortly be in contact with the school authority.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: DEIS Plan 2017 provides for a new identification model for assessment of a school's level of disadvantage using centrally held data. The key data sources include the DES Primary Online Database (POD) and Post-Primary Online (PPOD) Databases as populated by schools and the CSO Small Area of Population (SAP) data from the National Census of Population 2011 as represented by the Pobal...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Speech and Language Therapy Provision (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to introduce a new in-school Speech and Language Therapy service, creating stronger linkages between parents, teachers and SLTs. The programme also commits to bring the number of SLTs up to 1,102 (a 25% increase). The Programme for a Partnership Government also contains a commitment to examine the adequacy of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for organising and planning provision for children with special educational needs, including establishing special classes in mainstream primary and post primary schools. It is general practice to include a Special Needs Unit in the accommodation brief for new primary and post...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards Funding (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The following table displays the combined total non-pay allocation approved for Co. Cavan and Co. Monaghan Vocation Education Committees for the years 2012 and 2013; and the non-pay  allocation to Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board in the subsequent years 2014 to 2016. The 2017 figure is the initial allocation to the ETB. 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards Funding (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: A key factor in relation to funding pressures has been the impact of various budget measures over recent years. With regards to the current year ONP funding (2017) and the rationale used, this has been calculated taking into account student enrolment numbers and head office costs. The 2017 initial allocation is higher than the initial 2016 allocation by over €150,000. Since 2012,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Equipment (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: The decision to use tablet devices is a matter for the Board of Management of each school. Where the introduction of new technology is planned, there should be consultation with members of the school community including parents. The cost and other implications must be fully considered by the Boards of Management before a decision is made. It is a matter for each individual school to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gaelcholáistí Issues (4 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: Following the most recent demographic exercises carried out by my Department, the new post-primary schools required to cater for increased demographic demand up to 2018 were announced. As part of that announcement, and in view of the continued support for an independent Gaelcholáiste, it was confirmed that a Gaelcholáiste to serve the North Kildare area will open in 2019, subject to...