Results 15,721-15,740 of 19,632 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (24 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: A short course in Irish Sign Language (ISL) was prepared by Post-Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI) under the remit of my Department. This 100 hour course is based on the Generic Short Course in Modern Languages, which was also developed by PPLI using the new Framework for Junior Cycle (2015) and the Junior Cycle Short Courses Draft Handbook 'Developing Short Courses in Junior Cycle' prepared...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Physical Education (24 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware my Department provided a total of €160m Minor Works Grant funding to Primary and Post-Primary Schools during 2020. (€90m at Primary level and €70m at Post Primary level) School management authorities including the school referred to by the Deputy have flexibility in terms of how this Minor Works Grant funding is best utilised in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Mar 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 113,100 children, including over 14,500 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 the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (24 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: The Government has always been guided by public health advice in relation to what is safe in schools. The CMO has made it very clear in his advices to Government which are published on gov.ie, that schools are safe environments, with very little evidence of transmission within schools, and that the majority of infections of children and adolescents occurs outside the school setting. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware, a site will be required for the subject school and the Department is presently at a very advanced stage in the process of acquiring a suitable site for the new school building. This site acquisition process has been progressed in respect of the requirement in question and in line with standard acquisition protocols. The Department are liaising closely with Clare...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: The project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (ETB).  I am pleased to confirm that the Stage 2A meeting involving my Department, the ETB and the Design Team is scheduled for mid April. Once the Stage 2(a) submission is approved by my Department, the next step for the ETB's Design...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (24 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: As part of the Roadmap for the Reopening Schools, an estimated €639 million in additional financial supports are being provided to schools for the 2020/2021 academic year.  Of this €639 million, €331 million was provided for the period August/September to December 2020 and €308 million for January to July/August 2021. Provisional outturn figures for 2020...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Administrative Arrangements (24 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy that the applicable fines, charges or bills payable directly to my Department relate to Freedom of Information costs which can be paid via a cheque or bank transfer. In addition, public sector employees paid by the Department or the National Shared Service Office have the option to have 3rd party charges deducted from their pay and...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: I thank the members for the opportunity to speak to them today and for the committee's consideration of my Department's Revised Estimate. I am accompanied by the Minister of State, who has responsibility for special education, and by officials from my Department. I am conscious that I have very limited time in which to deliver my opening statement so I will just give a brief overview of the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: More than €639 million was made available for the entire school year, €331 million in 2020 and €308 million for 2021. On new mitigation measures or the processes for this part of the year, all the measures currently in place, and which we have been advised to put in place, have been overseen by public health. A stringent review of the mitigation measures in place was...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: The outbreaks, as determined by public health, have been at a very low level. Close contact testing results have had a positivity rate of 2.4%, compared with the rate in the wider community which is in excess of 10%. Professor Philip Nolan has reported an increase among young people but we have not seen that detection or transmissibility within our school environments. That was confirmed...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: The judgment on that must be left to the experts and it is the experts who are attesting to that, namely, public health. These are not statistics or figures that I am producing. They are being produced by the experts on the ground. Public health takes a rigorous approach when it is called into schools. We also have enhanced school teams. Public health has confirmed that it has extended...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: That committee has begun its work. My intention is that it will take a two-pronged approach, whereby there will be an interim report in the short term following by the final report. I hope and expect the interim report will be available in advance of the return to school in September. That is my objective.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: The review is of the school transport system as provided for all.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: There has been an increase in capitation, albeit a steady and small one, over the last two budgets. My intention is to keep moving in that direction. The difference between primary and secondary education is largely due to the size of buildings, specialist rooms and so on. There is a difference in scale between the two but I intend to continue the increase in capitation as far as possible...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: I do not have one to hand but I have no difficulty in making the information available to the Deputy. I will revert to him on the matter.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: There is provision in the budget for an additional 17 NEPS psychologist posts. There is also provision for 120 guidance counsellors to be made available in schools. Having worked in schools, I am very conscious of the importance of all kinds of well-being supports within schools, specifically guidance counsellors and NEPS psychologists, but also the wider context of well-being in school. I...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: To be fair, I think there is a very strong element of transparency in the information that is provided. I note that when specific issues were raised, the Department clearly made additional information available this year. For example, as the committee will be aware, there have been several reforms in the overall budgetary framework in recent years to provide greater transparency, including...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: There is extensive ongoing engagement between Bus Éireann and my officials. The Deputy is quite correct in saying that substantial additional funding was made available this year, much of it on the back of the requirement for school buses to operate at 50% capacity. For a variety of reasons, it is very important for that accountability between the Department and Bus Éireann to...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 — Education (Revised)
Vote 45 — Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (23 Mar 2021)

Norma Foley: On the catch-up fund and funding being made available to schools, the Deputy rightly made reference to disadvantaged children. Some €150 million a year is allocated to our DEIS schools. As I have said, in excess of €639 million has been expended on schools' reopening. We are working on an extended or enhanced summer provision programme which will help in compensating for a...