Results 1,961-1,980 of 7,283 for speaker:Josepha Madigan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (30 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I wish to advise the Deputy that there is no facility to carryover hours from one school year to the next. Hours accumulated in any given school year must be utilised in the same school year. Where hours were accumulated due to a school receiving a backdated increase to their Special Education Teaching hours, or due to a Special Education Teacher being used to cover substitution, as an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (30 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a huge role in helping to ensure the inclusion of pupils with significant care needs in education and in school life. This was acknowledged in the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018. The Review made a number of recommendations regarding SNAs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (30 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (30 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a huge role in helping to ensure the inclusion of pupils with significant care needs in education and in school life. This was acknowledged in the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018. The Review made a number of recommendations regarding SNAs and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (25 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Ensuring that schools can operate safely has been a key priority for Government. The Department of Education has an ongoing close working relationship with the Department of Health and the HSE throughout the pandemic in order to support and advise schools about the appropriate infection prevention control measures to ensure that schools can operate safely. As the rest of our society and...

Education (Health, Relationships and Sex Education) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (24 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I am sharing time with Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and I ask the Acting Chair to remind me to give her two minutes. I thank all the Deputies for their contributions and I am grateful for the opportunity to speak during this debate on the Education (Health, Relationships and Sex Education) Bill 2021. Given that the Bill was only introduced in the House last week, it is important to state...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (24 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I commend the Deputies on bringing forward this Topical Issue matter. It is a very pertinent issue to me, as Minister of State with responsibility for special education. I appreciate all the work done by Deputy Bruton, a previous Minister for Education, who in fact kick-started the process of the school inclusion model, and thank him for that. I wish to reassure both Deputies that I feel...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (24 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The important point to note, which I may not have mentioned yet, is the fact that the pilot has recommenced in CHO 7 this term. We have plans for expansion of that. The independent evaluation is critical, and I am very satisfied so far with a report we have received on the confidence children with additional needs have gained from availing of the school inclusion model and the fact that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (24 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Ensuring that schools can operate safely has been a key priority for Government. The Department of Education has an ongoing close working relationship with the Department of Health and the HSE throughout the pandemic in order to support and advise schools about the appropriate infection prevention control measures to ensure that schools can operate safely. As the rest of our society and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (24 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (24 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (24 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: As the Deputy is aware my Department opened the school in question this year in recognition of the significant demand for special school places in the local area. The establishment and opening of the school helped to ensure that children who required a special school place could access one, with priority in admissions given to those students who did not have a special school place previously....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Staff (23 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The summer provision is extremely important. This year, we doubled the funding, from €20 million last year to €40 million. Some 81,000 children are eligible along with 4,000 schools. A total of 939 schools participated this year, in an increase of 72% on last year, which is considerable. We had 36,672 pupils, which is an increase of 60%. We recognise the risk of regression,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (23 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I commend the school on taking the initiative to contact the NCSE in the first instance. If the NCSE agrees in future to open a special class, if there is demand, it and the Department give funding either to reconfigure accommodation or to provide new accommodation. It is also important to stress that when a school is opening a special class, there are additional grants. There is a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (23 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I understand that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has contacted the school on the request. It is a matter I take seriously as Minister of State with responsibility for special education. It is important to look at the growth in special classes. In 2011 there were 508 special classes and now there are 2,118, an increase of 386%. This year alone, we opened 269 special...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (23 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I understand that is was recently approved for additional mainstream accommodation and resource teaching. The NCSE is engaging with the school. We are putting about 360 additional special education teachers and 620 SNAs to all the special classes. The NCSE says there are sufficient places within existing special classes now but that is subject to change. The ongoing engagement between the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (23 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I am very aware of the needs of students with special educational needs who need care support to attend school. The role of the SNA is to support the class teacher to ensure that children with special needs can access the curriculum and participate in school life. For this reason, this Government continues to make very significant levels of financial provision to ensure that children with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (23 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion. Next year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Policies (23 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The purpose of the School Inclusion Model (SIM) is to build the capacity of participating schools so they can support the inclusion of all children particularly those with special educational needs (SEN). My Department recognises that the current range of supports in schools i.e. teaching and care does not on their own meet the needs of some children with special educational needs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Schemes (23 Nov 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I wish to advise the Deputy that a COVID Learning and Support Scheme (CLASS) has been put in place to help schools mitigate the adverse impacts of Covid-19 on pupil/student learning loss and wellbeing arising from the periods of school closures in 2020 and 2021. Under the programme, a block of additional teaching hours is being provided to each recognised school, from which schools can...