Results 13,801-13,820 of 19,621 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: School secretaries and caretakers are valued members of our school communities and my Department is fully aware of the vitally important role played by them in the running of our schools. I welcome the significant progress that has been made through the WRC in recent days. This builds upon previous recommendations of an independent arbitrator for a cumulative pay increase of 10% between...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: Good ventilation was identified as an important aspect of public health advice on managing Covid-19 risks. The establishment of an Expert Group on the matter, alongside a sub-group of the main Expert Group focussed exclusively on the issue of improving and monitoring ventilation in schools earlier this year underlines this, The outcomes of this work formed the basis for the most recent...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department has a strong and ambitious rollout of projects under the school building programme to support the operation of the school system particularly in terms of additional capacity requirements. During the NDP period 2018-2020, there were 526 completed building projectsunder the Large Scale Capital Programme and the Additional School Accommodation Scheme. These projects delivered in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: The project to provide the permanent building for the school referred to by the Deputy is in early architectural planning which involves site surveys, school design stages and the preparation of statutory applications. As with all school building projects, pre-planning meetings are required with the Local Authority in advance of preparing a Planning Application. This is to ensure the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: On 30 June this year, the Advisory Group on Planning for State Examinations received an update in relation to the 2022 Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle examinations. Following this meeting, I announced that adjustments would be made to the 2022 examinations which are similar to those that were published in December 2020 in respect of Leaving Certificate 2021. The adjustments are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2020/2021 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. All children who are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: Coming from a rural background, I am very much aware of the huge importance of small schools to communities across Ireland and I have asked my Department to work with the education partners to examine ways to support such schools in their communities and to ensure a more sustainable future for them. In general, small schools are considered to be schools with four teachers or less. There...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department provides funding to Primary and Post-Primary schools by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance, general up-keep etc. and the Ancillary/School Services Support Fund (SSSF) to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools also receive a range of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: The Department is guided by Public Health as to the mitigation measures needed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in our schools. The aim of all of the Covid-19 infection prevention and control measures that have been put in place for schools is to support schools to operate safely and prevent the introduction of Covid-19 and also the onward of transmission of Covid-19 among the school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department considers that the existing schools in Tramore are positioned to meet the educational needs arising from the increased population projected in the draft Waterford City and County Development Plan 2022 -2028. There are four mainstream primary schools in Tramore and one post-primary school. A significant extension has recently been completed at one of the primary schools and a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: The status of the major building projects referred to by the Deputy is as follows:- Scoil Chronain 19530H The permanent school building project for Scoil Chronáin has been assigned to my Department’s Design & Build delivery programme. This delivery programme uses a professional external Project Manager to progress the project through the relevant stages of architectural...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: The status of major building projects is as follows: Holy Family Community School, Rathcoole (RN 91301D) This project is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning, Stage 2(b) Detailed Design, which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents. All statutory approvals have been secured. The Stage 2(b) report has been reviewed and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department provides funding to Primary and Post-Primary schools by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance, general up-keep etc. and the Ancillary/School Services Support Fund (SSSF) to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools also receive a range of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I am conscious that students who are due to take their Leaving Certificate examinations in 2022 have experienced a degree of disruption to their learning. My Department co-chairs an Advisory Group on Planning for State Examinations in conjunction with the State Examinations Commission. The group was originally established to consider contingency arrangements for the 2020 Leaving Certificate...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 113, 160, 174, 259 and 260 together. The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2020/2021 school year over 114,100 children, including over 14,700 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: Covid-19 Response Plans have issued directly to schools for the new school year. These plans are based on the Government’s Work Safely Protocol which reflects the most up to date public health advice for the workplace. They set out the range of measures required to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and provide clear and helpful guidance for the safe operation of school through prevention,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (23 Sep 2021)

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

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: School secretaries and caretakers are valued members of our school communities and my Department is fully aware of the vitally important role played by them in the running of our schools. The Department previously fully implemented and funded the 2015 recommendations of an independent arbitrator for a cumulative pay increase of 10% between 2016 and 2019 and that a minimum hourly pay rate of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Reports (23 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I wish to confirm that the review is completed and the completed report was published in July 2021 and includes the relevant assessment referred to by the Deputy. The report can be located at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/2b005-review-of-the-pilot-ppp-scho ols-bundle-2019-2021. The completed report provides a comprehensive comparative analysis between the projects delivered...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Sep 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...