Results 1,601-1,620 of 19,544 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 175 and 176 together. My Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential. Supplementing the universal supports available to all schools, the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme is the key policy...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: As Minister for Education, I believe it is crucially important that children and young people are actively supported to access education in its fullest forms. This Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families. As part of Budget 2024, I announced a major investment of over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, the purpose of the Summer Works Scheme (SWS) is to enable individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works on a devolved basis and, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school. The SWS operates on a multi-annual basis for categories of works such as roof works, window...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: The first phase of the Schools Photovoltaic (PV) Programme launched in November 2023 to over 1600 schools. It will provide eligible schools with 6 kWp of roof-mounted solar PV, which equates to approximately 16 solar panels. Since the launch of the first phase of the Schools PV Programme late last year, my Department has had a very positive response to the scheme, with over 1500 schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: A total of 425 BLAST residencies were awarded for the 2024-2025 school year. While the number of students participating per school is not collected routinely, it can be estimated from the data gathered from a selection of schools during evaluation that more than 13,500 students are participating in the programme in the current school year.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers Programme, known as BLAST, aims to provide pupils in schools all over the country, time and the space to work with a professional artist/creative practitioner on imaginative, creative and fun projects. BLAST is a key Department of Education initiative of the Creative Youth Plan 2023-2027 which aims to foster creativity in schools focus and to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: Transition Year holds an important place in the programme for Senior Cycle Redevelopment and is highly regarded as a valuable year for students that offers opportunities for life skills, personal, social and academic development, and experience of adult and working life. All schools design their own Transition Year programmes within set guidelines to suit the needs and interests of their...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the state examinations. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 187, 198 and 213 together. The large scale capital project at the school is for the provision of a new 600 pupil school and ancillary accommodation. The project is at Architectural Planning Stage 3 – Tender Action and Award. The original grant of planning expired in December 2022, but due to changes to the Planning Acts in September 2021, it was no...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: It is acknowledged that there are challenges around the availability of teachers at present and the Department’s ongoing approach is to continue to develop innovative measures to improve the availability of teachers. Budget 2024 contained a range of measures that demonstrated the Department’s commitment to continued investment in our education system. In addition to numerous...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: A number of organisations and agencies provide support to survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and information about those agencies was provided with the Report to participants in the Scoping Inquiry's trauma-informed survivor engagement process. Information on support agencies for survivors of sexual abuse is also available on the Scoping Inquiry website and my Department has engaged with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: 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. The Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the As set out in the Schedule of the Regulations, the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Commissions of Investigation (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: The Government has accepted the recommendation to establish a Commission of Investigation which is the principal recommendation of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders. I have convened a high level Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) to examine the recommendations of the Report and to consider the terms of reference for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the state examinations. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 194 and 195 together. The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question. The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (or ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (1 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: I wish to confirm to the Deputy that my Department is in receipt of an application from the school in question under the Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme for mainstream accommodation. The purpose of my Department’s ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available...