Results 15,841-15,860 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Amalgamation (18 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that a major building project, to facilitate the amalgamation of the schools referred to, is included in my Department’s 6 year Construction Programme and is currently completing early architectural planning, Stage 2(a) – the Developed Design Stage. Following a successful completion of this stage, the project will proceed to Stage 2(b), Detailed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools Scheme (18 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: I am aware of the previous representations made by, and on behalf of, the school in question. I understand that the school in question is a DEIS Urban Band 2 school. As the Deputy may be aware, a process to review DEIS which began last year is nearing completion and it is my intention to publish a new Plan for Educational Inclusion before the end of this year. The review is looking at all...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Facilities (18 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Department of Education and Skills has been made aware of the challenges faced by the third level institution in question with respect to its current library facilities. There are many competing demands on the limited capital budget for higher education and the library development proposal will be considered within the context of competing demands. I am not in a position to commit to a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Funding (18 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: I am aware of the report referred to by the Deputy. I strongly support any measures that can be put in place to reduce costs for parents. All schools must be sensitive to the financial pressures on parents in making decisions, not just about school uniforms or books, but about any matter that has cost implications for parents. In relation to school transport I wish to inform the Deputy...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (18 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Programme for Government has a commitment to reduce class sizes at primary level over the lifetime of the Government. Budget 2016 provided for a 1 point improvement to the primary staffing schedule which was implemented in the current school year. Budget 2017 sets out the resources available for schools for the 2017/18 school year. This Budget represents the start of a major...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (18 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: The project referred to by the Deputy has recently been approved to proceed to Stage 3 which involves the tender competition for appointment of the building contractor. The school and its design team have been informed. The tender stage for any major project normally takes between four and six months to complete. The school and its design team have been asked to ensure that tenders are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (18 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: The school to which the Deputy refers opened in September 2012 in temporary accommodation, pending delivery of the school's permanent school building. In December 2012, outline planning permission to provide a permanent school building for the school was submitted to the relevant local authority but was refused on the grounds of site access. This was appealed by my Department to An Bord...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Data (18 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: My Department's means of analysing demographic trends and data have changed considerably since the report to which the Deputy refers was completed in 2005.    For school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 geographic areas known as school planning areas. These defined areas facilitate the orderly planning of school provision and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (18 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Teaching Council is the statutory body with responsibility for professional standards at all stages of the teaching career. In that context, it has established standards for post-qualification professional practice, as set out in, Droichead, the new model of induction for newly qualified primary and post-primary teachers. The model ensures that the same standards and requirements apply to...

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: I regret that Deputy Martin is seeking to play political football with something that is really important. It is unheard of to advocate, in this House, that the State examination system, under which we provide an assessment of every child in the country, should be undermined because one trade union has decided not to co-operate in teaching it over the past number of years.

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: That is a very irresponsible approach. Deputy Martin should be asking the ASTI to allow the derogation so that children who have studied the curriculum can sit the full examination as intended.

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: We have to defend the integrity of the examination system. We cannot have an individual unions deciding that it will undermine something that has been negotiated with all the trade unions over years and agreed by all except one, in a vote in which there was only a 38% turnout. Now the children may not get the opportunity to sit that part of the exam.

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Martin should not be playing political football with this as it is something that is important to our children. The ASTI should allow the pupils to sit the exam as intended.

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: The reform of the junior certificate is a huge investment in our young people and it is designed to ensure a much more balanced assessment of the way their learning is done and the way it is measured. Under the new approach, there will be a certificate of achievement, which will measure the projects they have been involved in across a range of subjects, thereby valuing intelligence of...

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue because it is very important. I assure the Deputy we are recruiting extra people to NEPS and it is within our provision. As part of the programme for Government we have committed to increasing the NEPS service by 25%. This year in the budget we have made provision for 900 additional resource teachers. This is specifically designed to reform the...

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: As I indicated, the programme for Government commits to a 25% increase in the staffing in NEPS and this is one thing we will implement. We are also trying to move to have less reliance on the types of assessments to which the Deputy rightly said disadvantaged children have less fair access. We are moving away from this high reliance. For example, we are simplifying accommodation of exams...

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: I understand the budget will come in on target, we will wait and see at the end of the year. I also understand that the provision being made this year for a €900 million increase will allow the HSE to develop a service plan, soon to be available to Members, that will show significant improvement in service across the board. The plan will be monitored very closely to make sure that it...

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: I compliment the effort of people working on the front line in the health service. It has been a very difficult number of years for them. We have had almost a lost decade in terms of investment in the health service when we would have been building capacity in key areas and that has not been possible. However, despite that and despite a near 10% reduction in the number of people working in...

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: It is important to recognise that this agreement, even before the negotiating started, guaranteed under its terms that no public service could be interfered with. It guaranteed that there could be no diminution in health, safety or workers' or other rights as a result of the agreement. It provided for protection for many of the things about which people are concerned. Of course, there has...

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Richard Bruton: This has been an issue for some time. As the Deputy knows, the agreement has been negotiated over a number of years, so the Minister is very alert to those concerns, as are other Ministers. Modifications have been made to the agreement to take into account public concerns. It will come back for ratification in the House, as normal, and the Deputy will recognise the value of it.