Results 1,501-1,520 of 17,498 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: In terms of Irish Sign Language, this is something the NCCA is doing work on at the moment. There are no definitive plans but it is looking at whether this can be progressed as an official part of the curriculum. Any changes around the curriculum in Irish are being worked through at the moment, but no decisions have been made overall.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: We agree we need to ensure every child is supported, be it in a separate classroom or in mainstream. That is why we have as many SNAs and special education teachers as we do. It is so that children with different needs can be supported, whether in mainstream or otherwise. There is more work we need to do for children who do not have autism and cannot attend autism classes or special schools.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The reason there is not a weekly or monthly update on that is, to Deputy Cummins's point, 3,275 have been identified but a number of children separate to that have been identified within the school but are not known to the NCSE. They come into the figures as well and it changes every day depending on whether a place has been identified or otherwise. That is why we are not giving exact...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Deputy raised SNAs last week in the Dáil. SNAs allocated and SNAs in the schools are different timelines. The question the Deputy asked was at a particular point in time so the allocation might have been made but the SNAs were not in the school. To clarify, at the end of 2024, there were 21,579. From this September onwards - because allocations happen throughout the year - there...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Reviews happen continuously throughout the year.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: A number of circulars are going out, setting in train the new processes. It is a constant review so any circulars will show there will be reviews from September. That is the case every year so it will not be anything particularly new.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: On youth, over €90 million has transferred over from the Department of children along with the services. I will do my best at budget time to increase that funding and also to look at the capital side of things. The Deputy mentioned spaces and it is important the organisations - Foróige, Youth Work Ireland and many others - have access to up-to-date spaces that are welcoming and...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Senator. I agree. I have spoken to many teachers who are already using AI, whether in a special education setting or otherwise, who say it has been helpful. As part of leaving certificate reform and the roll-out, a task force has been put in place to look at teaching, learning and assessment, specifically for leaving certificate reform but it would be helpful for other elements...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The co-ordinator?

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Senator. The Department of Transport is committed to investing in the school fleet and the overall bus fleet that it has. The vast majority of our buses are Bus Éireann buses, so it is about upgrading them and making them more efficient, including more climate-efficient as well as everything else. The Department of Transport has a commitment to do that. There is also a...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: On the specific case the Deputy mentioned, schools cannot refuse students. While there may be a suggestion that it cannot accept the child because it does not have the support, students really cannot refuse students. What can happen is that the school would engage with the NCSE once the child is in the school to see what needs and supports are there. Reviews happen continuously throughout...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: There are different answers for primary school, post-primary school or-----

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Absolutely everything that can be done is being done to make sure we have the places as early as possible. However, where schools have only received sanction in recent weeks, it is difficult if site works have to be done to put in place the modular buildings. The earlier we bring those timelines, the quicker we will identify where a school needs an extra place or classroom. However, work...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the body with the statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland including the registration of teachers in the state. It is a function of the Council under the Teaching Council Acts (s7(2)) to act as the competent authority for recognition of qualifications obtained by a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Projects (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The major building project referred to by the Deputy will deliver a new 16 classroom primary school and accommodation, including 2 classrooms, for children with special educational needs at the old fire station in Dun Laoghaire. The project currently has planning permission and is being brought to the level of employer-led design with a Design Team assigned to do so under the supervision of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Schooling (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Tackling educational disadvantage and supporting students to fulfil their full potential in life is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth, and for the Government. The DEIS programme is a key policy of Government to tackle concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. My department invests over €180 million annually to provide additional supports to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Inquiries (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan (NDP), involving the completion of over 1,375 school building projects. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. A recent Government decision has approved...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The role of schools within communities is crucial and I wish to acknowledge the huge contribution being made daily by all school leaders in the operation of our schools. International evidence is clear on the vital impact that school leaders have on student outcomes, and on leading teaching and learning in our schools. To ensure that our school leaders are supported in an increasingly...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The school to which the deputy refers has been granted capital funding under my Department’s SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme for the provision of the Reconfiguration of existing accommodation for two special educational needs classrooms and Reconfiguration works of a protected structure to provide two mainstream classrooms. This programme involves the use...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Policies (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I understand that this question relates to my department's work to prevent and address bullying behaviour. Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying was launched on 1st December 2022. Cineáltas is my department’s whole-education approach to preventing and addressing bullying in schools. Cineáltas is dedicated to the prevention and addressing of bullying, cyber bullying,...