Results 16,401-16,420 of 19,632 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (21 Jan 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 my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: Of the 3,963 schools (3,240 primary and 723 post-primary) in the State, 391 schools (274 primary and 117 post-primary) are currently using pre-fab rented accommodation. The date of individual rentals ranges from 2000 to 2020 and a breakdown of the school currently renting prefabs by County is attached. Similar information in respect of previous years is not readily available. I wish to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Administration (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: The public health restrictions which resulted in the closure of schools in March 2020 highlighted the absolute necessity for schools to be agile in providing for continuity of schooling in the future. As a contingency measure against the possibility of partial or full school closures, my Department has already provided a suite of guidance materials, agreed with the education partners, to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: In total there are 359 Post Primary schools offering Spanish in the three Senior Cycle Programmes. The breakdown of these figures is set out in tabular form in the attached spreadsheet. The information is based on the most recent October Returns which were submitted to the Department. Post Primary Schools offering Spanish at Senior Cycle Level Broken Down By Programme PP...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department has an enhanced Occupational Health Service (OHS) in place to provide employers with occupational health advice in relation to employees’ fitness for work. Medmark, the current OHS provider has a process in place for school staff, including SNAs and SEN teachers, who may have health concerns about their risk of serious illness from contracting COVID-19 through workplace...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: The Government published the Roadmap for the Full Return to School, along with details of a financial package of over €375 million to support the implementation of the measures in the roadmap, following approval by Government. The range of supports being made available to all schools in the free education scheme include additional financial supports to provide for PPE and hand hygiene...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: The delivery of high quality internet connectivity for all schools is a key objective of my Department. It is accepted that good connectivity is essential to ensure that schools are facilitated to progress the embedding of digital technologies in teaching and learning and for the implementation of new and revised curriculum. Under the School Broadband Programme the Department continually...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (21 Jan 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 my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: It remains Governments' intention to operate the conventional 2021 Leaving Certificate examinations, with appropriate public health measures in place. This view is shared by the State Examinations Commission (SEC), which has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations Planning for these examinations is underway by the SEC and the Department. It...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: European Court of Human Rights (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: The ex gratiascheme, was established in 2015 to provide an effective remedy for a specific category of people, namely those persons who had commenced domestic litigation but who had discontinued those proceedings following High Court and Supreme Court judgments and because of this discontinuation had no domestic remedy. The review of the scheme has yet to be concluded. As part of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: It remains Governments' intention to operate the conventional 2021 Leaving Certificate examinations, with appropriate public health measures in place. This view is shared by the State Examinations Commission (SEC), which has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations Planning for these examinations is underway by the SEC and the Department. It...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Administration (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: Neither my Department nor the State Examinations Commission has any role in relation to the setting, running or marking of mock examinations. Decisions to hold mock examinations are taken by individual schools. The format of these examinations varies from school to school and not all schools run mock examinations. Schools that run mock examinations will themselves decide how these can be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (21 Jan 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 more than 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 my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: In accordance with Department Circular 0031/2011 teachers must be qualified and registered to teach in the sector to be eligible for the qualified rate of pay. Ms Kirby is registered under Route 3 with the Teaching Council which allows Ms Kirby to work in a further education setting. If Ms Kirby teaches in a mainstream post primary school she will receive the unqualified rate of pay and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, the patronage divesting process arises from the recommendations of the 2012 report of the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector, following which the Department undertook surveys of parental preferences in 43 areas of stable population in 2012 and 2013 to establish the level of parental demand for a wider choice in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (21 Jan 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 more than 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 my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: It remains Governments' intention to operate the conventional 2021 Leaving Certificate examinations, with appropriate public health measures in place. This view is shared by the State Examinations Commission (SEC), which has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations Planning for these examinations is under way by the SEC and the Department. It...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: I am supportive of proposals for memorialisation and agree that the legacy of abuse that has been uncovered by Commissions of Investigation should never be forgotten. The Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate subject specifications for History provide flexibility and opportunities for the findings of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission report and other reports on institutional abuse to be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: Schools have put significant measures in place to reduce the risk of coronavirus being transmitted to/within the school and significant funding has been provided to support schools in this respect. The evidence to date from a public health perspective is that schools are safe. The approach to Covid-19 in schools is led by the advice and guidance of the HSE Public Health. The HSE Health...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (21 Jan 2021)

Norma Foley: During March 2020, the Education Shared Business Services (ESBS) section of my Department implemented a payroll system utilising a managed payroll service to pay in the region of 4,500 apprentices undertaking off-the-job training in all sixteen ETBs. This payroll was established to fulfil a Revenue requirement to tax apprentices before end Q1 2020. An Operations Team has been set up in the...