Results 14,841-14,860 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Tuition Scheme (19 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: The purpose of the Home tuition Scheme is to provide a compensatory educational service for children with special educational needs seeking an educational placement with provision also made for early educational intervention for children with autism. The scheme also provides a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (19 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: Officials in my Department are currently working to identify a suitable permanent site for the school referred to by the Deputy. Given the commercial sensitivities associated with land acquisitions generally I am not in a position to give further details at this time.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Brexit Issues (19 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: An extensive programme of engagement with all other EU Governments and the EU institutions, including the Commission’s Brexit Negotiations Task Force, is under way.  This engagement is being intensified in 2017. The Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton TD has met the following European government ministerial counterparts for discussions on Brexit since the UK...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to reassure Deputy Wallace. There has been a 41% increase in the number of resource teachers since 2011, a 23% increase in special needs assistants and a 100% increase in the number of autism spectrum disorder classes in schools. Substantial investment is ongoing. I agree that parents need a better say. That is why we are introducing a parents charter Bill, the heads of which will...

Other Questions: Schools Mental Health Strategies (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: At the end of last week I had a workshop in Galway and detected that in schools there is a huge appetite for this programme. School authorities recognise that this is an area in which they need to improve. A lot of pressures are coming on schools with expectations from pupils who are experiencing difficulties and they must respond. We have developed some excellent tools to support them,...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: A number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 have been commenced, including those establishing the National Council for Special Education and those promoting an inclusive approach to the education of children. In order to ensure that inclusive education can be provided for, very significant investment has been made in the area of special...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to correct one point. The figures I quoted were from €706 million in 2006 to €1,500 million in 2016, which covers the period when cutbacks were occurring in education. This area was not subject to cutbacks. Resource teaching has been increased by 41%. We now have 12,500 teachers providing resource or learning support, plus 12,500 special needs assistants. There has...

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: The budgetary increase of €465 million which I secured for my Department in budget 2017 will support implementation of my Department’s goals, set out in the action plan for education. The increased allocation will mean more classroom and resource teachers, more special needs assistants, continued restoration of guidance posts, increases in new entrant teacher pay resulting from...

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: Each year a fresh assessment will be made of the needs of children coming into a school under various headings such school allocations, the PTR, special needs and so on. My Department does its best to anticipate what those school needs are but, as I said in my reply, in September the enrolment figures can put pressure on. However, there is a built-in protection as the allocations for the...

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: Within the system there is a right to appeal. Allocations are generally made on the basis of last September's enrolments, which gives a fairly food projection. An appeal may be made, however, such as by a school that is developmental and there may be children with special needs that were not anticipated and that will cause pressures for additional resources. The Department seeks to...

Other Questions: Schools Mental Health Strategies (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: The well-being in post-primary schools guidelines for mental health promotion and suicide prevention 2013, and the well-being in primary schools guidelines for mental health promotion 2015, acknowledge that schools have a role to play in supporting their students to develop the key skills and knowledge to enable them to make informed choices when faced with a range of difficult issues,...

Other Questions: Schools Mental Health Strategies (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy's point is well made, in that not every school is equally good at implementing these programmes. However, the junior certificate well-being programme, which we are rolling out from September, gives an opportunity for schools to have a hard look at themselves, a self-evaluation. We are encouraging schools to do that and there is a seven-step process to look at their programmes,...

Other Questions: School Staff (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: What I read out is the new provision that will be interpreted based on the enrolment numbers schools submit and whether they span the six classes. The conditions are set out as to what is there. If the school meets the criteria it has the chance to go to the appeals board and get the additional resource. I cannot anticipate the application of these rules, but the rules are clear and the...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: The project raised by the Deputy was authorised to proceed to tender in October 2016. This project is the second phase of accommodation for the school in question and will cater for an additional 650 pupils. Phase 2 of the project will also provide a special needs unit, a sports hall with a fitness suite and changing facilities and ancillary accommodation, including a school library. Once...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: It is my understanding the design team was appointed by the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board. To be fair, I have seen delays occur in many school projects and the question of looking for a fault or ascribing fault is not always the route to go. There may have been some unanticipated problems that cropped up such as planning issues. It is not my business to try to...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I will ask the departmental officials to examine whether there are lessons to be learned from this experience. I just do not know that. Obviously, in the first instance a design team is accountable to the school, in this case the ETB. I do not know whether it was an oversight, a mistake or what it was, but I will ask officials to have a look at what was the source of delay and whether...

Other Questions: School Staff (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: Following a review of the staffing allocation for small primary schools, budget 2017 announced two adjustments relating to one-teacher schools. Where the school is the sole primary school on an island, it will be able to appoint a second teacher. Single-teacher schools more generally with an enrolment of 15 or more pupils can apply to the staffing appeals board for a second post where the...

Other Questions: School Staff (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: In response to Deputy Wallace's points, the change to which I referred gives the staffing appeals board discretion so that it is not just rigidly adhering to some view. The change will allow the board to assess the situation. From what Deputy Wallace has said, it sounds as if the school will have a good chance of meeting the criteria by September 2017. Those criteria are ones that are...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I will give an overview of the additional places. In 2012 just over 3,000 additional places were provided. In 2013 it moved up to 8,000 and for last year it was over 15,000. Therefore, we are steadily increasing the number of schools we are building and places we are providing - that is through new builds. The same is true when it comes to replacing other schools. I agree we could...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I am open to considering any possibilities in the PPP area, Junker funding or elsewhere. As the Deputy knows, the European Investment Bank opened a Dublin office for the first time and there are opportunities to look at funding in education as an area where that could be delivered. The Deputy is right in saying that costs have risen. When we started to tender in the depths of the...