Results 14,381-14,400 of 19,632 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 284 and 285 together. The acquisition of the permanent site for the schools in question, (known locally as the “Glass Bottle” site) on the Goatstown Road, was completed by my Department in June 2019. The site will provide for a campus development of a 1,000 pupil post-primary school with 4 class Special Education Needs Unit (SENU) and a 16...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: An application for capital funding under my Department's Additional School Accommodation Scheme (ASA), has been received from the school authority. The application will be assessed as quickly as possible and once the assessment has been completed, a decision will be conveyed to the school authority.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (6 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: Departmental Data (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: During 2019 and as part of the Government Bank Framework, my Department commenced migration of all its commercial bank accounts from Bank of Ireland to Danske Bank. All Department bank accounts have now fully migrated to Danske Bank. Prior to 2017, Bank of Ireland did not charge negative interest fees to my Department. The table below sets out the negative interest fees charged to my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: The Job Sharing Scheme for teachers is contained in Chapter 8 of my Department’s Circular Letter Circular 0054/2019 titled ‘Leave Schemes for Registered Teachers Employed in Recognised Primary and Post Primary Schools’.Paragraph 11.1(a) of the Job Sharing Scheme states a teacher may not engage in any substitute teaching whilst job sharing. In response to issues raised in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: It is the responsibility of school authorities to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act 1998 and the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places. Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Human Rights (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: As outlined in previous replies, my Department has undertaken a review of the ex gratia scheme established in the wake of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment. This review was in response to a determination by the Independent Assessor, Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill, that one of the criteria for eligibility to the scheme is incompatible with the ECtHR judgement. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: I can confirm that my Department has been in contact with the Parish in relation to potential acquisition of Booterstown Parish Hall. A valuation of the hall is currently being assessed by Department Officials and once completed, my Department will be in a position to enter into negotiations for the potential acquisition of the hall. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: As indicated in my most recent reply dated 25 May, I have contacted the relevant HEIs and am currently waiting for final feedback on this issue. I must point out also that as this information is personal data, the issue of release of such information, as has been requested, is relatively complex. As previously mentioned, my office will make direct contact with the Deputy when I have a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: With regard to the permanent accommodation for the school referred to by the Deputy, 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (6 Jul 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: School Accommodation (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: The project for the school referred to by the Deputy is part of the Cahir Amalgamation project. The brief for the project is the construction of a 16 classroom school with a two classroom Special Educational Needs Base. Construction works commenced in October 2020 and are progressing satisfactorily on site. The cost of the works will be in excess of €8.5m.The original contract...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: The decision by my Department to adopt a model of Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades in 2020 was a direct result of COVID-19, which prevented the State from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations last year. The purpose of this process was to allow as many students as possible to progress to employment, further education and training, or higher education. Leaving...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: The DEIS Plan published in 2017 sets out the vision for interventions in the critical area of educational disadvantage policy and was based on the findings of an extensive review of the DEIS programme, which involved consultations with all relevant stakeholders. A key part of the DEIS Plan was the introduction of a new DEIS identification process based on an objective, statistics based...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation Scheme, from the school authority referred to by the Deputy. As previously advised officials from my Department have been communicating with the school authority in relation to their application and as a result the assessment process is now progressing. On completion of this...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Freedom of Information (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department takes a proactive approach to the publication of a wide range of official information and the ‘publication scheme’ is regularly updated in accordance with the “Model Scheme” provided for in section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2014. Our policy regarding the Publication Scheme is directly aligned with the guidance provided by the FOI Central...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Freedom of Information (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department reports annually to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on FOI statistics including fees lodged. The table attached gives annual totals of fees received in relation to FOI activity since the commencement of the FOI Act 2014. Year Total FOI Fees 2014* €1944 2015 €1038 2016...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Freedom of Information (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department does not generally refuse requests on the basis that the maximum fee threshold is exceeded. The FOI Unit in my Department is proactive in engaging with FOI requesters where necessary to ensure that, as prescribed under Section 12 of the FOI Act, all requests contain sufficient particulars to enable the record to be identified by the taking of reasonable steps. If the request...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Meetings (6 Jul 2021)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 307 to 309, inclusive, together. Officials from my Department met with the Irish Agricultural Science Teachers Association ( IASTA) in January of this year. Following this, IASTA attended a meeting on 16 February 2021 of an 'Agricultural Science in Practice Group' convened by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). Also in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (6 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. The purpose of my Department's...