Results 14,341-14,360 of 19,621 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Rights of People with Disabilities (13 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: Action 40 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy provides that my Department will amend its Technical Guidance Documents for school and educational buildings to ensure universal design principles and guidelines are fully considered in all designs for new building and, where possible, in the retrofit of existing buildings. The Department is committed to developing inclusive...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (13 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the current 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 a cost of over €224.7m in 2020.   All children who are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (13 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: Under the Programme for Government there is a commitment to seek to make further progress in reducing the pupil teacher ratios in primary schools. For the 2021/22 school year, an improvement of one point in the appointment threshold in primary schools has been introduced and schools will be provided with class teachers on the basis of of 1 teacher for every 25 pupils which is a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (13 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department provided €100m in grant funding to recognised primary, special and post-primary schools to address their ICT needs during 2020, the final issue of funding under the €210m investment programme underpinning the implementation of the Digital Strategy for Schools. This included €50m in respect of the 2020-2021 school year brought forward and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (8 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: Leaving Certificate subject specifications are developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in line with prevailing government policy on curriculum and assessment. The development process is a thorough one involving extensive consultation, following which the subject specification is approved through the representative structures of the NCCA and subsequently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (8 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department provides each of the sixteen Education and Training Board (ETB) with a staffing allocation to support its schools, colleges, head office and other centres of education. In providing these supports, it is the responsibility of each ETB to recruit and manage staffing levels within this allocation and to deploy staff in roles in accordance with the priorities and needs as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service (8 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: I can inform the Deputy that the average direct pay and non-pay cost per annum of employing an Educational Psychologist in my Department's NEPS service is €75,000 per annum. The estimated annual additional cost, therefore, of employing 100 psychologists would be €7.5m. It should be noted, however, that a recruitment exercise on such a relatively extensive scale would require in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (8 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the patron of the school referred to, Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB), will progress the delivery of interim accommodation to address the school’s accommodation requirement for the 2021/22 academic year. KWETB, fully supported by the Department, and fully conscious of the urgent need for this interim accommodation, is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (8 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: The project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB). I can confirm that a Design Team to deliver this project has been appointed by WWETB. The Design Team is currently preparing the Stage 1 report (preliminary design). While at this early stage it is not possible to provide a timeline for completion of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Seirbhísí Leathanbhanda (8 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: The school referred to by the Deputy is currently on a wireless service of up to 60mb/s, with the service recently increased to this speed by the current service provider, through the Schools Broadband Programme. The school was included in a recent tender for services run by my Department, and awarded to a provider of high speed broadband. The installation has been delayed however, due to a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current 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 a cost of over €224.7m in 2020. The purpose of my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Administration (8 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: Standardised tests are used to measure a child’s reading and mathematical achievement, and to determine children’s progress in those areas. Information from the tests is important given the vital role of literacy and numeracy in enabling children to access the full curriculum. The results of standardised tests can help schools to evaluate progress in literacy and numeracy...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (8 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: Design of ventilation in schools requires compliance with the Building Regulations and my own Department's Technical Guidance Documents. Managing classroom ventilation is one of a number of prevention and control measures in place to ensure schools are safe. Practical steps for the deployment of good ventilation practices was provided to the school system in the context of re-opening for...

Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019 [Seanad]: Second Stage (7 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to be in a position to bring the Bill to the House. The Bill has been passed by the Seanad, where it received cross-party support. I believe this is important legislation as it seeks to provide a clear framework for schools in regard to engagement within their school communities and between home and school. As Members will be...

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

Norma Foley: Schools have been advised that it is expected that they will continue to operate with the current infection prevention and control measures outlined in school covid response plans to support their safe operation during Covid-19 when they reopen in for the 2021/2022 school year. Schools will continue to be supported in terms of the additional resources necessary to provide for these measures....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (7 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: I would like to inform the Deputy that this project has been incorporated into an Additional School Accommodation project and the section overseeing this project has been in touch with the school and a decision will issue shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (7 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: The school has sufficient accommodation in their current location for September 2021. My Department will shortly be exploring options with regard to the school’s further interim accommodation requirements for September 2022 and will continue to liaise with the school and patron in relation to same. A number of sites in the Galway City East/Oranmore area have been identified and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (7 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: Officials in my Department are working closely with officials from Galway County and City Councils under the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the identification and acquisition of a suitable permanent location for the school. A number of site options have been identified and discussions with these landowners are ongoing. When the site has been acquired the project will then...

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

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the current 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 a cost of over €224.7m in 2020. The purpose of my Department's School...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (7 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: I would like to inform the Deputy that the additional information mentioned has been received, the school increased the scope of works without prior approval from the Department and therefore we are not in a position to fund the increased costs.