Results 14,141-14,160 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Report of the Expert Group on the Future Funding for Higher Education sets out a number of funding options for the sector including a predominantly State-funded system, a State-funded system supplemented with continuing student fees and an income contingent student loan scheme. As the Deputy will be aware the Report is currently with the Joint Oireachtas Committee for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Brexit Issues (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: Firstly, let me say very clearly that negotiations on the UK/EU relationship post Brexit have not yet begun. Ireland is part of the EU27 in terms of preparing for such negotiations and we will continue to respect our role in that process. I have had meetings in recent months with the EU Commissioner for Education and other EU Ministers and officials at which such barriers and other...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will probably be aware that the school building project to which he refers has been devolved for delivery to the Local Authority. The Design Team for the project recently provided the Local Authority with an accelerated timeline for the project which will see the project being delivered for occupation in September 2018.  My Department received...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that a building project for each of the schools referred to is included in my Department's 6 Year Construction Programme (2016-2021).  The additional accommodation being provided to the schools in question as part of the 6 Year Construction Programme is intended to meet demographic demand identified in the areas where the schools are located. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department is currently reviewing the demographic data in the Swords area referred to by the Deputy as part of the overall demographic analyses of all school planning areas nationwide. As the Deputy will be aware, there are 13 primary schools serving the area referred to, one of which has made contact with my Department in regard to junior infant intake for September 2017. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to inform the Deputy that staffing schedules under the 2005 DEIS Plan provided for class sizes in DEIS Band 1 urban primary schools of 20 to 1 in junior and 24 to 1 in senior classes.   The DEIS Plan 2017 does not propose a change to this position.  Rather, it provides for an evaluation of teaching resources for schools participating in DEIS to be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Junior Cycle Reform (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: In line with the philosophy of the Framework for Junior Cycle, no subject or short course will be deemed compulsory apart from Irish, English and Mathematics, and the new area of learning of Wellbeing.  Thereafter schools will have the flexibility and autonomy to choose from 18 other subjects, including History. Schools will be given flexibility to shape their own Junior Cycle...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department provides funding support to the Music Generation programme of €2.5 million annually. This is in respect of the 11 local Music Education Partnerships (MEPs) established under Phase 1 of the programme, which were initially supported through philanthropic funding. In January 2016, a commitment was given by my Department, subject to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Services for People with Disabilities (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: The National Access Plan, 2015-19 contains a specific target to increase the number of students with disabilities in higher education. The plan sets an overall target that 8% of new entrants to HE will be people with disabilities by the end of the plan.  My Department is working closely with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and higher education institutions in order to achieve this...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Services Staff (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department’s focus in recent years has been to prioritise the filling of front-line teaching and Special Needs Assistant posts in schools. These posts were not affected by the recruitment moratorium that was put in place in the public service in 2009 as part of budgetary measures. However, secretary, caretaker and cleaning posts in schools were affected by the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Services for People with Disabilities (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: Increasing access to higher education by people with disabilities is one of the targets in the National Access Plan 2015-2019. The plan sets an overall target that 8% of new entrants to HE will be people with disabilities by the end of the plan. The most recent HEA key facts and figures shows that the proportion of entrants indicating that have a disability has almost doubled compared to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware of the Programme for Government commitment to increase financial supports for post graduate students with a particular focus on those from low income households. In response to this commitment, I secured additional funding of €4million in Budget 2017 to facilitate the reinstatement of full maintenance grants, from September 2017, for the most disadvantaged...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: Firstly, I should point out that the Institute of Technology Carlow already have a Wexford Campus which is based in Wexford Town and which offers an extensive range of award qualifications from Level 6 through to postgraduate Level 9 on the national Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). In relation to the Deputy’s specific question on the establishment of a higher education institution or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 and 51 together. DEIS is my Department's main policy initiative to tackle educational disadvantage. The DEIS Plan for 2017 sets out our vision for future intervention in the critical area of social inclusion in education policy. A key element of DEIS Plan 2017 is the availability of a new identification process for the assessment of schools for inclusion...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the Certificate Examinations. The Commission, in this regard, operates a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in the Certificate Examinations (RACE). In view of this, I have forwarded your query regarding the new arrangements for the RACE scheme, to the State Examinations Commission...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service Administration (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: All primary and post-primary receive educational psychological service from my Department’s National Educational Psychological Service. Assessment services are provided by NEPS and delivered by a NEPS psychologist or where such staff are not currently available, by a private practitioner from a panel maintained by NEPS under the Scheme for Commissioning of Psychological Assessments...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware I recently announced new plans aimed at providing more multi-denominational and non-denominational schools across the country, in line with the choices of families and school communities and the Programme for Government commitment in this area. This will involve the Education and Training Boards in the initial phase, as the State’s local...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that I recently announced new plans aimed at providing more multi-denominational and non-denominational schools across the country, in line with the choices of families and school communities and the Programme for Government commitment in this area.  The Government's target of achieving 400 multi-denominational schools by 2030 is highly...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Expenditure (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: As recently as last October I signed a €200 million long term loan agreement with the EIB which will help deliver my Department's School Building Programme. It will support the construction, enlargement and modernisation of 71 schools over the next four years as well as delivering improved energy saving measures to these schools. The first meeting of the EIB-Ireland Financing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (1 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, there are 13 primary schools serving the Swords school planning area.  My Department has been in direct contact with a number of these schools in respect of their junior infant capacity.  In that regard it is understood that at least one primary school is undersubscribed and has expressed a willingness to enroll further junior infants in September 2017,...