Results 16,921-16,940 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is responsible for allocating special needs assistants, SNAs, to schools in accordance with my Department's criteria for allocating such support. An additional 860 SNAs will be available for allocation to schools from September 2016, bringing to 12,900 the total number of SNA posts available, at a total annual cost of €425 million....

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: To put matters in context, the provision for special educational needs has been increased by 27% in the past few years while, for example, funding for higher education has fallen by approximately 22%. This area has not been neglected but rather is one in which the Government has, rightly, made significant contributions. The amounts are allocated on two bases. Some is provided as a general...

Other Questions: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Daly for her question. The Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act was enacted in July 2012 and provided for the establishment of a statutory fund to support the needs of victims of residential institutional abuse. The Act also provided for the dissolution of the Education Finance Board which was established in 2006 and financed by a €12.7 million contribution...

Other Questions: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: This operation started in January 2014 and the review was to take place within two years and the period in respect of that has somewhat slipped but it will now take place. The terms of reference will be agreed in July and the review will take place in the autumn. At the time when previous Ministers made commitments that was done having regard to the maximum funds available of €110...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Admissions (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I am sympathetic to the case the Deputy has made in that Bill but I am conscious that the previous Oireachtas education committee, which conducted pre-legislative scrutiny of the Education (Admissions to School) Bill 2015, acknowledged the potential tensions between articles of the Constitution relating to education and religion and concluded that it poses a particular difficulty when...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Admissions (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: It has become standard and good practice to have pre-legislative scrutiny of all Bills that will come before the House. This Bill raises complex legal and constitutional issues, which I do not say make it unviable, but they need to be examined. That was recognised by the previous Oireachtas education committee and, bearing that in mind, we need to do that. I refer to the way minority...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Admissions (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I do not share the Deputy's poor belief in the longevity of the Government. I am optimistic that new politics will result in longevity because that is what people want. The Bill was not part of any legislative proposal scrutinised by the House previously. That is clear from the conclusion of the previous Oireachtas committee. We need to examine the complexities, and the responsible way...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Curriculum (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I recognise that not every school has access to a PE hall. Hopefully, within their wider communities they can ensure children have the opportunity to participate in the PE component. The suggestion of an audit of availability is sensible. I am conscious that resources for investment are under pressure to meet the growing numbers of children coming into the system. It has been given a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Curriculum (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The well-being programme has been designed to be inclusive and conscious that certain communities are under particular pressure. It is reflected in the fact that they will have better pupil-teacher ratios, capitation and access to the National Educational Psychological Service and counselling services. There are in-built provisions that will support the effective roll-out of the well-being...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Admissions (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The programme for Government contains a commitment to publish new school admissions legislation taking account of current draft proposals and addressing issues including publication of school enrolment policies, an end to waiting lists, introduction of annual enrolment structures and transparency and fairness in admissions for pupils and their parents. I have commenced a process of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Admissions (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: Children from outside the area of a local school are often given preference over children who are in the school catchment area but who are not of the denomination. Deputy Joan Burton's Bill seeks to address this. The Bill may raise complex issues such as the impact on minority religions, and they need time and space to allow hearings by the Oireachtas education committee to tease out the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Admissions (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The former Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, did much of the work on the admissions Bill, and I would like it to proceed, given that there is much consensus on many of the issues in it. Another issue which is not in the admissions Bill has been raised, and we should take the opportunity to tease out the practicalities of the Labour Party Bill, parallel to the passage of the admissions Bill,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The ASTI was invited by my Department to participate in the discussions with the TUI, but it declined to do so.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: It had also declined an invitation from the previous Minister. However, I did recently meet it on the issue of junior certificate reform and I am glad that today it has indicated that its representatives are willing to meet me following my invitation to discuss the issues involved further. I am very disappointed, however, that it has also signalled today that it will trigger the measure on...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: Yes. In implementing the Lansdowne Road agreement my Department is conscious of the requirements of data protection legislation and putting in place arrangements to distinguish between teachers who are represented by unions that have accepted the agreement and those represented by unions that have not. These arrangements are being finalised and my Department will publish a circular in early...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Lansdowne Road agreement is an absolutely vital framework and every trade union within the public service has been within it. It is allowing us to manage our resources and make investments in important areas that are crying out for resources. Working within collective agreements of this nature has been crucial to the development of stable industrial relations. That is the way to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Curriculum (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The well-being area of learning will be introduced to the junior cycle programme from the start of the 2017-18 school year. Up to 400 hours will be available for learning in the area of well-being in the junior cycle. It will begin with a minimum of 300 hours of timetabled engagement from 2017 and move to the full complement of time as the new junior cycle is fully implemented in schools....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: ASTI members voted recently to authorise the ASTI standing committee to direct its members to cease fulfilling the Croke Park agreement hours. The decision to withdraw from these hours is a serious issue with implications beyond the question of whether the hours are fulfilled or not. This decision means the ASTI is withdrawing from the Lansdowne Road agreement. These hours represent a real...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, it is my intention in accordance with the Programme for Government to replace school prefabs with permanent accommodation over the lifetime of my Department's capital programme 2016-2021. To enable this development, my Department will be carrying out an assessment of the number of prefabs being used in schools to deliver the curriculum and to determine whether or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (28 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I have received the legal opinion that the Deputy has referred to and I can assure the Deputy that I will give it careful consideration. It is acknowledged that any change to the Equal Status Act would be extremely difficult as this is a hugely complex area legally, constitutionally, and in other ways. I note that the previous Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social...