Results 17,761-17,780 of 19,660 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The wellbeing and mental health of our school communities was a fundamental element of the Department’s overall plan to ensure a successful return to school, as we continue to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. It is crucial that we support the wellbeing of our students and school management and staff in order to support successful re-engagement with teaching and learning. We know that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2019/2020 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2019/2020 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: As part of Project Ireland 2040 the Minor Works Grant (MWG) is paid to primary schools in either December or January of each school year. This year, due to the exceptional circumstances arising from COVID-19, €29m was paid under the Minor Works Grant to primary schools in the free scheme in July 2020. Under the July Stimulus Programme additional funding of €75m was...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department has published a suite of helpful guidance for the safe and sustainable reopening of schools. Each school is required to have a COVID-19 Response Plan for the safe operation through the prevention, early detection and control of COVID-19 in line with public health advice. This guidance is focused on the practical steps schools must take to minimise the risk of transmission of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, in order to plan for school provision my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, to identify where a demand for additional school places will arise. Malahide_Nevinstown and Portmarnock are two such school planning areas. Included in the data analysed is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30th September. The staffing process includes an appeals mechanism for schools to submit a staffing appeal under certain criteria to an independent Appeals Board. This school referred to by the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2019/2020 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: More than €30 million of capitation funding has been made available to primary and post primary schools to cater for PPE/Hand Sanitiser requirements up to the end of 2020. This capitation funding, reflects the fact that there are a number of once off type costs which schools face in implementing COVID-19 Response Plans (i.e. installation of sanitiser units, signage/posters etc.)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Equipment (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The nature of distance learning, which was necessitated during the unprecedented closure of schools earlier this year, required educators to take on a range of approaches to support their students’ continuity of learning during that period. Assisted by Department funded resources and supports, schools and teachers demonstrated great innovation in adapting to the unprecedented situation...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department has developed a Template Health and Safety Control of COVID-19 Policy for post primary students. This policy reflects the need to minimise the risk of introduction of COVID-19 into the school community and to prevent its spread. This template is a guide for schools in how they can set out for students and parents/guardians, the COVID-19 health and safety control measures to be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I can confirm a potential permanent site option has been identified and discussions are ongoing with the landowner with a view to acquiring this site. As the Deputy will appreciate, the site acquisition process can be lengthy and there can be complex issues which need to be addressed during negotiations, technical assessments or conveyancing. At all times the Department strives to obtain...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Protection (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The Deputy may be aware that the action reports filed with the Council of Europe on the implementation of the ECtHR judgement in the Louise O'Keeffe encompass the child protection measures that have been put in place and continue to be updated. These measures involve my Department's inspectorate and other agencies including the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Tusla. The number...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy progressed to an advanced stage of architectural planning, Stage 2(b) – Detailed Design, in September 2019. Stage 2(b) includes the applications for Planning Permission, Fire Safety Certificate & Disability Access Certificate and the preparation of tender documents. All Statutory approvals have been secured...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I am acutely aware of the issues faced by many schools in respect of teacher allocations and class sizes. Under the Programme for Government there is a commitment to seek to make further progress in reducing the pupil teacher ratios in primary schools. Previous budgets of 2016 and 2018 improved the staffing schedule by one point on both occasions to its historically lowest level ever of 1...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The DEIS programme allows for a reduced class size in Urban Band 1 primary schools with the application of a preferential staffing schedule to these schools of 20:1 at junior classes and 24:1 at senior classes to support those students at the highest risk of educational disadvantage. As the Deputy may be aware, DEIS Plan acknowledges the allocation of teaching resources to DEIS primary...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: It is difficult to make precise comparisons between the levels of grants paid and the actual costs of running schools at primary and post-primary. In general, post-primary schools are larger than primary schools. They have specialist rooms such as laboratories, workshops etc. This leads to higher unit costs in for heat, light, power, maintenance and cleaning.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Pay (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants to start. The starting salary for a new entrant teacher in 2012 was €30,702. As a result of the programme of pay restoration, the starting salary of a teacher from 1 October 2020 onwards will be €37,692. Section 11 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 provides that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (14 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a result of COVID-19, which prevented the State from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. The purpose of this process was to allow as many students as possible to progress to employment, further education and training, or higher education. The system of calculated grades is underpinned by key...