Results 1,661-1,680 of 7,283 for speaker:Josepha Madigan

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Deputy, who has raised this issue with me previously. When we are talking about special classes in general, we have to look at it in the context of the journey that we have been on. That is not to say that we still have a great deal of work to do but we have increased the number of special classes by 386% since 2011 and that is quite significant. At the end of December,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: To reassure the Deputy, there is intensive ongoing engagement with all of these schools by the local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, in the Dublin 12 area and I am consistently briefed on what is happening when I ask. Scoil Úna Naofa is employing consultants, as I said, to oversee building works and we hope that it will happen as soon as possible. The aim is to open for...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I met the archbishop in Our Lady of Good Hope and we had a conversation around special schools and special classes. They are very active and really want to try and provide that inclusivity where they can. We can all accept that sometimes there are legitimate reasons where schools do not have the capacity and, in those circumstances, we can either try to provide that building work where they...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Work is under way in respect of the new allocations for schools and they will issue as soon as possible. There will be consultation with stakeholders in advance. It is primarily the job of the NCSE to assess each school and its allocation. It is up to each school to allocate its SNAs as it sees fit. For mainstream classes, as I said, no diagnosis is required. The criteria for the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I assure the Deputy that the Minister and I take the role of SNA very seriously. SNAs are valued greatly for the assistance they give to children with additional needs who, quite simply, would not be in a position to function in any real way in classes without them. The SNA's role to increase the independent living skills of children with additional needs is to be commended and admired. In...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the new graduates of the SNA programme in UCD. This programme of training was advised by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, in 2018. Some 3,500 students will take that course over the next three years. To get back to the Deputy’s specific question on SNAs in general, we have increased the number of SNAs by 81% since...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: The State Examinations Commission provides a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations at the Certificate Examinations, known as the RACE Scheme. The scheme supports students with a diverse range of special educational needs.  It allow students who have special educational needs that interfere with their capacity to engage with the standard examination arrangements to demonstrate what...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.  It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion. This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: In light of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the introduction of the new Frontloaded Allocation Model for SNAs for students in mainstream classes in primary and post -primary schools was deferred for a further year to the beginning of the 2022/23 school year.  In order to minimise disruption for schools, in the current circumstances, and to provide for continuity...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a huge role in helping to ensure the inclusion of pupils with significant care needs in education and in school life.  This was acknowledged in the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018.  The Review made a number of recommendations regarding...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: My Department ran an expanded summer education programme for Summer 2021, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this expansion, students with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage had access to an enhanced summer programme of education. The total funding available to provide the programme was €40 million, which was a one...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 105 and 158 together. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.  It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion. This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. This year, the Department of Education will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the budget on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special educational needs. This includes additional teaching and care supports. The National Council...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a huge role in helping to ensure the inclusion of pupils with significant care needs in education and in school life.  This was acknowledged in the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018.  The Review made a number of recommendations regarding...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Sign Language (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Last week Minister Foley and I were pleased to announce details of a new scheme for the provision of Irish Sign Language (ISL) in-school support for students who are Deaf and whose primary means of communication is ISL. The new scheme will involve two key strands of support: - Programme of intensive in-school support for individual students to enable them access teaching and learning and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special educational needs. This includes additional teaching and care supports. As a result, the number...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for fulfilling the functions of the NCSE Council, through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), Advisors and Visiting Teachers. The identification, delivery and coordination of education services to students, schools and families, are organised and managed through ten teams across five regions. SENOs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a huge role in helping to ensure the inclusion of pupils with significant care needs in education and in school life. This was acknowledged in the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018. The Review made a number of recommendations regarding SNAs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: The Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile. Under the allocation model, schools have been provided with a total allocation for special education needs support based on their school profile.  The provision of a profiled allocation is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE was assigned responsibility for the management and direction of the Visiting Teachers Service for children with hearing or visual impairment with effect from 20th March 2017. It was set up to improve the delivery of education services to persons with special educational needs arising from disabilities with particular emphasis on children.  Formally established under the...