Results 16,861-16,880 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: An inspection of the Mullingar Army Barracks site was carried out by Professional and Technical staff of my Department's School Planning and Building Unit in 2012 with a view to determining its suitability for school accommodation. The site and existing accommodation at the Barracks were found to present technical difficulties such that the development of the site for school use did not...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware the building project for the school in question is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. All statutory approvals have been obtained and the Stage 2b submission was recently approved by my Department. However, on 1st January 2016 there were 66 major projects under construction. Since the start of this year 14 more major projects have been progressed to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 104 together. My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places will arise. The GIS uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and information from my Department's own databases. The outcome of the latest demographic...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is an independent agency with responsibility for determining the appropriate staffing levels in relation to the support of pupils with special educational needs attending Special schools. The NCSE operates within my Department's policy in allocating this support. Staffing arrangements for special schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Emergency Works Scheme Applications (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Planning and Building Unit of my Department has checked this matter again and it has confirmed to me that it has no record of receiving the application to which the Deputy refers. The copy of the application provided with the details supplied is incomplete in that it is not signed or dated by the Chairperson of the Board of Management. It is also not properly signed off by the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Property (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board are currently in discussions with St. Aidan's Diocesan Trust, who are the owners of the school building to which he refers, regarding the building's future use.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Council for Special Education (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools, to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. The Deputy will be aware that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools Scheme (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The school the Deputy refers to applied for the DEIS Programme in 2005 but was assessed not to have a sufficient level of disadvantage for inclusion in the scheme at the time. As the Deputy is aware, the review of the DEIS programme is currently underway and it is my intention that a New Action Plan Educational Inclusion will be published by the end of this year. The review is looking...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The supplementary assignment arrangements for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) were established on foot of proposals brought forward by the Labour Relations Commission when the Haddington Road Agreement was being agreed. These supplementary assignment arrangements for SNAs continue to operate under the Lansdowne Road Agreement, and both unions representing SNAs, namely SIPTU and IMPACT, have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: UK Referendum on EU Membership (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Government has a Contingency Framework in place which maps the key issues that will be most important to Ireland in the coming weeks and months. My Department participated fully in and contributed to the preparation of that Framework for the education sector. The Government has published a summary of the key actions that will be taken to address the contingencies arising from the UK's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Data (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: In the academic year 2015/16 there were 1,007 full-time and part-time Northern Irish domiciled enrolments and 1,805 full-time and part-time British domiciled enrolments in all higher education institutions that are funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA). The HEA does not collect data on students from the Republic of Ireland studying in Northern Ireland or Britain. However, I...

Energy Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: He will be here any minute.

Topical Issue Debate: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (29 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: Unfortunately, the two tests of the developing schools criteria and the alternative criterion G are the ways by which the Department has sought to provide some flexibility in the scheme. It is a scheme that has to be applied uniformly throughout the country and a school has to meet the criteria. Obviously, the appeals board exercises some judgment as to how schools are operating. It is...

Energy Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I will pass on what is said to the Minister, as will the officials. I am sure he is temporarily delayed.

Topical Issue Debate: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (29 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Heydon for raising this issue. The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts are set out in an objective way and are applied uniformly across the country. In budget 2016, the then Minister announced a one-point improvement to the primary staffing schedule which reduced the average pupil-teacher ratio to 27:1. In September 2015, enrolment at Rathangan boys'...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (29 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Government has committed to establishing a Public Service Pay Commission to examine pay levels across the Public Service, including entry pay levels. The terms of reference and timescale for the Commission's work are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and would require broad consultation, including engagement with staff representatives as was...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Strategies (29 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos 76 and 84 together. As the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for a Partnership Government provides for a three year Statement of Strategy for my Department within the first 100 days and a framework for measuring its progress. The Strategy will be informed by the Government's Programme for a Partnership Government and will aim to advance the transformation of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (29 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The pupil teacher ratio in the current school year is 1 classroom teacher for every 28 pupils. Budget 2016 provides for a one point adjustment to the staffing allocation to primary schools, which will be implemented for the 2016/17 school year. This will see the primary staffing schedule operate on the basis of a general average of 1 classroom teacher for every 27 pupils. Lower thresholds...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (29 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: It is widely accepted that the quality of school leadership is a key determinant of school effectiveness and the achievement of good learning outcomes. Indeed international research indicates that school leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning. Therefore my Department, in consultation with the representative school management bodies has commenced an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Lansdowne Road Agreement (29 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: ASTI members voted recently to authorise the ASTI Standing Committee to direct its members to cease fulfilling the Croke Park hours. ASTI's decision to withdraw from these hours is a serious issue that has implications beyond the question of whether these hours are fulfilled or not. As I have stated previously, this decision means that ASTI is withdrawing from the Lansdowne Road Agreement....