Results 18,381-18,400 of 19,666 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The Roadmap for Full Return to School set outs the plan for the safe and sustainable reopening of our schools. It has been developed in line with public health advice issued by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), the Roadmap for Society and Business, and follows comprehensive and intensive engagement with education stakeholders including the school management bodies and staff...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my 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: Schools Building Projects (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The school referred to by the Deputy opened its doors to 64 first year students on Friday August 28th 2020. In the context of the current accommodation arrangements the school has had to make some modifications to its subject offering for this term. While it was not feasible to make full provision for specialist subjects at the school's current location, Department officials will continue...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: 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 €219m in 2019. The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) conducts reviews of the allocation of Special EducationTeachers (SETs) and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) in circumstances where schools consider that exceptional circumstances have arisen in their school which means that they cannot provide for the special education teaching or SNA needs of their pupil population from within the total...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my 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: Supervision and Substitution Scheme (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The Roadmap for the Full Return to School provides for comprehensive supports across a range of areas to allow for the safe reopening of schools. Among the supports provided is the extension of the Substitute Teacher Supply Panel. The scheme has been expanded from a pilot scheme consisting of 6 base schools to over 100 base schools, providing substitute cover to over 2,000 schools across the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Question Heading for question(s) 168 (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: I can confirm that my Department has received correspondence, including a report, from the group referred to by the Deputy and that a response will issue shortly. In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 169 and 184 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The school building project for the school in question is being delivered under my Department's Design and Build programme. A pre-planning meeting was held with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council earlier in the year and this is informing the design for the project. Lodgement of the Planning Application will be the next key milestone in the progression of the project. The Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The information requested by the deputy in not available. Provisional data for the academic year 2020/2021 will be available in January 2021. Please find attached information for the academic year 2019/2020 - the most recent available data. The figures can be found, both Primary and Post-Primary, on the DES website at the link below; Primary Academic Year (Enrolment) ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (9 Sep 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 is now €36,953 and from 1 October 2020 onwards will be €37,692. Section 11 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The capitation grant has increased in each of the last two budgets. I understand the need for improved capitation funding and I am pleased that budget 2020 has been able to provide for a further 2.5% increase in standard capitation funding for primary schools that applies from the start of the 2020/21 school year. This builds on the 5% increase in capitation announced in budget 2019. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Scheme (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: DEIS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, is the Department’s main policy initiative aimed at tackling educational disadvantage in primary and post primary schools. In the 2020/21 school year there are 887 schools participating in DEIS serving over 180,000 pupils. My Department will invest in the region of €125 million this year on the programme. Details of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The annual staffing schedule determines the allocation of teachers to schools. For the current school year, it operates on a general average of 26 pupils to every 1 teacher (26:1) which is historically the lowest ever allocation ratio at primary level. Budget 2020 has provided for a budget of more than €11 billion for the Department of Education and Skills in 2020. This is the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: In the 2020/21 school year there are 3,108 mainstream primary schools. Each 1 point adjustment to the overall primary staffing schedule is estimated to cost in the region of €4.7m in the first year and €14.3m for the full year. As the Deputy is aware, there are 689 primary schools participating in the DEIS programme. Under DEIS, a reduced class size is applied to all 229...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: Teachers are currently allocated to post primary schools at a ratio of 19:1 in the free education system and 23:1 to schools in the fee charging sector. Approximately 1,150 teaching posts would be required for each 1 point adjustment on the post-primary side. Each 1 point adjustment to the pupil teacher ratio at post primary level is estimated to cost in the region of €18.66 million...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The Government at its meeting on 27 July agreed the publication of the Roadmap for the Full Return to School, and approved a significant financial package of €437 million to support the implementation of the measures in the roadmap for the school year 2020/21. The package of supports was estimated to cost €211 million in 2020 and €226 million in 2021. The range of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (9 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: To date my Department has approved the rental of 13 prefab classrooms as part of the plan to reopen schools. The cost wont be know until details are received from the relevant schools. Currently there are 1,361 rented prefabs units in use in 390 primary and post-primary schools.