Results 161-180 of 16,184 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: With regard to the mild special schools, we are continuing to build special schools. There are five new ones this year, one each in Monaghan, Waterford and Cork and two in Dublin, and 16 have been built in recent years. It is not that we are saying we have what we have and we need to move it around. We need to continue to build special schools as well as special classes in the mainstream....

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: There are a number of approaches being taken at the moment to try to support teachers at primary and post-primary and, in particular, new and innovative ways in which technology is helping. There are the new gteic hubs where principals, through the medium of Irish, are able to teach certain subjects to other schools, including the one they are in, using video technology and otherwise. That...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: We need to look at everything as part of the process.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I acknowledge there is a commitment by the Government to continue to increase the capitation grant. I appreciate that the point we are at is above where we were a number of years ago, but with inflation we need to keep increasing that. I am absolutely committed, as is the Government, to doing that. It is about increasing the capitation grant, making sure schools get the minor works grant...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: The 92% is for primary and post-primary schools. Special schools are somewhat different. On average between the two, outside Dublin - I said last week that Dublin is a more complex area - there are pathways for every child. While some children might not have got a place, the enrolment process is-----

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: That is changing every day.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: It is changing every day. Work is under way at the moment.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: What I am saying is that 92% have an offer or a clear pathway for where they are going. A huge amount of work has been done to make sure the admissions process----- The Deputy should please let me finish my answer. A huge amount of work has been done to make sure the admissions processes are opened up.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: What I am saying is that 92% of students from primary and post-primary level have identified or have been given a place. It is a slightly lower number for special schools. That is being worked through at the moment and it is changing every day. The figure I might give now would be different from yesterday's figure. Even today, children are being allocated places. Today, enrolment...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: It is changing every day. I am saying as of today, approximately 92%, between primary and post-primary, where places have been offered and where we are working those through. For special schools, particularly in Dublin, it is a much more challenging situation.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: What I can say on breakdowns for different counties, is that in Tipperary zero places remain for primary, post-primary or special schools. The same applies in Kerry and Limerick, Clare-----

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can go through the different breakdowns, but it is different in every county

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: Yes, in the counties I mentioned. It is different in every county and that is why when the Deputy asks for a figure, it is different in every county and in-----

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I brought an update to the Cabinet two weeks ago. I intend to bring an update in July because of the timeline between now and July. There are 11 schools, for example, that just opened their enrolment policies, so that will allow us to see the huge amount of progress that will be made between now and then.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: There will be a mixture. The NCSE is working with schools every week and engaging with families every week. As things change, it is updating parents. Approximately 80% of the 399 new school places that have been sanctioned will be in schools where there is repurposing, that is, classrooms that have not been used and classrooms that have been used for something else. There is a grant of...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I do not see why not. Yes.

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: On special classes, as I outlined the intention is the earlier we can identify the need, the quicker we can engage with schools to make sure if there is a new build or modular building needed that can be put in place where there is room to readjust within the school. There is funding from €30,000 to €70,000 or €80,000 depending on whether there are structural or...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: On leaving certificate reform, as the Senator said, it is really about taking the pressure off students and taking the focus away from an exam at the end of two years. There are 28 subjects which already have an additional assessment component so it is not completely new. This is about applying it to every single subject. A lot of work has been done to prepare for this. Much of the change...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Senator. First, in relation to the capitation grant, this is why it applies for the teacher allocation as well. The school that had the child who has moved will have already received the capitation grant so we cannot then give a second capitation. If a child starts in school A and then halfway through the school year moves to school B, school A has already received the...

Committee on Education and Youth: Engagement with Minister for Education and Youth (18 Jun 2025)

Helen McEntee: We are continuously increasing supports and resources for schools, be they primary, secondary or special schools. Where we need to increase funding for specific curricular reform is very much part of the conversation with various unions on leaving certificate reform and how we can make sure that schools have the resources, supports and teachers to roll out the new curriculums. That, of...