Written answers
Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Department of Education and Skills
- Schools Building Projects
402. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the new school building project for a school (details supplied) has gone to tender; and if the commencement for works is still on track for... - Education Policy
403. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the guidelines for children who are opted out of religious instruction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54564/25] - Departmental Data
404. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a list of the five special schools at primary and post-primary level who have suspended and/or expelled the highest number of... - School Staff
405. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of staff that have left a school (details supplied) in each of the years 2023, 2024 and to date 2025; and the wait-times for the... - Departmental Schemes
406. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if under the small schools scheme or an extension of such a scheme, the fourth teacher at a school (details supplied) can be maintained; and if... - Departmental Properties
407. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will expedite the processing of documentation currently with her Department in relation to the sale of a property (details supplied); and... - Schools Building Projects
408. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the construction of the new building for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54594/25] - Departmental Staff
410. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are plans to make provisions for teachers who currently remain on the supplementary redeployment panel each year; and if she will make a... - Departmental Contracts
411. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current criteria to be granted a contract of indefinite duration for primary teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54610/25] - Departmental Policies
412. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she has considered using external training providers to train teachers and school staff in special education schools or settings. [54620/25] - Schools Building Projects
414. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 812 of 8 September 2025, the status of approval for the emergency works at the school; and if she will make... - School Accommodation
415. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the future plans for the temporary accommodation site currently occupied by a school (details supplied), in view of the schools' scheduled move... - Schools Building Projects
416. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to assist in the urgent case of a school (details supplied) waiting for project works to begin that were approved in 2018; and if she will make a... - Departmental Staff
417. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to concerns related to the provision of full-time teacher roles (details supplied); the actions she will take to... - Departmental Schemes
419. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will outline the progress of the Anseo initiative; and how additional schools may enter later this year. [54689/25] - Departmental Correspondence
420. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will address matters concerning health and safety, transport and new build, raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will... - National Council for Special Education
421. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the NCSE engaged in meaningful consultation with schools, SNAs, and parents before finalising the 2025-2026 SNA review process guidelines; if... - Departmental Policies
432. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to address the serious and ongoing concerns being experienced by a school in County Offaly (details supplied); and if she will make a statement... - School Transport
433. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the lack of school transport options for students at schools (details supplied), particularly as one of these schools is due to move... - Departmental Policies
434. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if junior cycle coordinators will be formally recognised as a leadership role, eligible for appointment to an Assistant Principal II post. [54756/25] - Special Educational Needs
435. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of applications received for the academic year for transport for children with additional needs; and the number that have been... - Schools Building Projects
437. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) had its emergency works application refused; if the application can be reviewed in view of the... - Departmental Expenditure
438. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide from returns made to the FSSU the total amount paid to Uisce Éireann by primary and post-primary schools in the past year; and if... - Departmental Schemes
440. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review an application under the summer works scheme for a primary school (details supplied); if she will ensure that this application... - School Admissions
441. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a five-year-old child (details supplied) will be able to go to school. [54864/25] - Departmental Expenditure
443. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the need to repair and upgrade the playground in a school (details supplied); the grant options available to... - Special Educational Needs
444. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on a special education teacher application by a school (details supplied); to confirm her Department has received same; when... - Departmental Contracts
445. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a CID application (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54913/25] - School Transport
446. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will urgently examine the case of a student (details supplied); the status of the bus route assigned to them given Bus Éireann will... - Special Educational Needs
448. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if school bus escorts are entitled to be paid to attend mandatory, full-day child protection training courses that special needs assistants are... - Scoileanna DEIS
449. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when she expects the new DEIS plan to be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54951/25] - Departmental Staff
450. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the staffing schedule at primary schools to ensure greater fairness and equity, especially for smaller schools in order to... - National Council for Special Education
451. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware of the delays in decision-making by the NCSE following SERC reviews, particularly in cases where schools have clearly... - Special Educational Needs
452. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will investigate the case of a school (details supplied) that has waited over 130 days for a decision on an SNA review, despite escalating... - National Council for Special Education
454. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the oversight mechanism in place to ensure that NCSE decisions regarding SNA allocations are transparent, timely and responsive to the complex... - Special Educational Needs
455. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the supports available to schools dealing with high-risk behaviours in autism-specific classes, including pupils with PICA, elopement risks, and... - Departmental Contracts
457. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are any technical, legal, operational, or policy constraints preventing her Department, when publishing quarterly reports of payments or... - Departmental Circulars
458. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if all contracting authorities under the aegis of her Department are in full compliance with Circular 05/2023, in particular the mandatory... - Schools Refurbishment
459. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an emergency work grant application can be expedited for the provision of a fence at a school (detail supplied); and if she will make a... - Special Educational Needs
460. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a child with autism (details supplied) will obtain an urgent NEPS report;; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55093/25] - School Transport
463. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to clarify a matter regarding school transport for a person (details supplied) in Kildare south; and if she will make a statement on the matter.... - Departmental Data
465. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the details of the 2025 carryover figure found in the Education and Youth Table D (Reconciliation of 2026 Expenditure Ceiling) in the Budget 2026... - School Transport
466. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of additional places allocated for 2026 as part of the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55133/25] - Departmental Funding
467. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the amount which will be allocated for rolling out DEIS Plus; the amount which will be allocated to each recipient school; and when funding will... - Special Educational Needs
468. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures announced in Budget 2026 which will specifically support children with additional needs in mainstream settings; and if she will make... - Education Schemes
470. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timeline for the approval of projects under the summer works scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55137/25] - School Transport
471. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 471 of 30 September 2025, if he will further engage with Bus Éireann regarding a person’s... - Special Educational Needs
472. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a school in which no children with ‘primary care needs’ are enrolled will not receive SNA allocation; and if she will make a... - National Council for Special Education
473. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason it is acceptable that level 1 needs, as identified and prescribed by qualified professionals, are not recognised within the new NCSE... - Departmental Reports
475. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide a list of all studies, research and reports commissioned by her Department that were outsourced, in each of the past five years, in... - Special Educational Needs
476. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on the application by a school (details supplied). [55200/25] - Youth Services
477. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the capital programmes that may be available to youth projects (details supplied), to expand their operations. [55201/25] - Budget 2026
478. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the Departmental funding allocation for youth affairs for 2026; if she can provide a breakdown of this funding in terms of existing levels of... - Special Educational Needs
479. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide details on the design of the in-school therapies being rolled out in special schools in 2025, especially in relation to the... - Budget 2026
481. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of the €8 million additional funding to youth affairs being made available in Budget 2026; the breakdown in terms of capital... - Project Ireland 2040
484. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of the way in which the funding under Project Ireland 2040 where €7.55 billion will be invested in the education and youth... - Budget 2026
485. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide information on the uplift that youth organisations both universal and targeted will be expected to receive as a result of... - Special Educational Needs
486. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are plans to direct the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to introduce extra time as a reasonable accommodation for students with... - School Admissions
487. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 349 of 17 July 2025, the status of an additional needs application from a school (details supplied) in... - School Transport
488. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of pupils currently availing of the school transport scheme for 2025-2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55276/25] - Budget 2026
489. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for a breakdown of the €16 million invested in school therapies in Budget 2026; and the number of SLTs and OTs she expects to provide,... - Educational Disadvantage
491. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the DEIS plan currently supports 260,000 people; and the number of additional people the DEIS Plus programme will support. [55285/25] - Budget 2026
492. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide a breakdown of the funding allocated in budget 2026 for the DEIS plan and DEIS Plus programme. [55286/25] - Educational Disadvantage
493. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of additional schools that will receive the extra €20 capitation grant because they are classed as DEIS urban band 1; and the... - Grant Payments
494. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the increase in capitation grant to €406 for children in special schools once they turn 12 will come into effect; and the number of... - Budget 2026
495. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide a breakdown of the €19 million allocated in budget 2026 to train teachers on how to deliver leaving certificate reform. [55289/25] - Educational Reform
497. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline who will provide the training to teachers to deliver Leaving Certificate reform and primary school curriculum reform. [55291/25] - Schools Building Projects
499. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will intervene in the urgent case of a school in County Offaly (details supplied), that has had works approved since 2018 but which has... - Educational Disadvantage
502. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she expects the implementation of DEIS Plus in the fourth quarter of 2025. [55315/25] - Grant Payments
503. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the increase in the capitation grant by €50 for primary schools and €20 for post-primary will not come into effect until... - Budget 2026
504. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if it is the case that of the 1,042 additional teachers provided for in Budget 2026, 860 are special education teachers to cover special schools... - Pupil-Teacher Ratio
505. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of additional teachers needed to reduce the pupil teacher ratio by one point; and the reason her Department has failed to reduce the... - Youth Services
506. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of the €8 million provided for the youth sector in budget 2026; and the amount specifically for capital projects. [55319/25] - School Transport
507. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills of the €69 million funding provided for the school transport scheme in 2025, the amount that is to maintain existing levels of service;... - Education Policy
511. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of teachers she hopes to have working in the education system by 2030. [55324/25] - Educational Disadvantage
516. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a case (details supplied) of a local school can be reviewed; if she will review the issues highlighted with regard to eligibility for DEIS... - Departmental Expenditure
517. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department and each body under its aegis discloses expenditure on external consultancy and adviser fees, by category (details supplied) in... - Budget 2026
518. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of the 2025 carryover in the Budget 2026 measures. [55385/25] - Youth Services
522. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will support the local version of the National Youth Council of Ireland's All Ages for Youth Work campaign by providing increased funding... - Historical Sexual Abuse
523. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on the work of the commission into historical sexual abuse in schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55427/25] - School Staff
524. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of staff in full time positions that left their employment in a school in Cork (details supplied) between September 2021 and August... - School Facilities
525. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department's Circular 0046/2025 still applies and remains relevant to the storage system to be used by schools for mobile phones; and if... - Schools Building Projects
528. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to consider and respond to concerns regarding an aspect of design for a new school building (details supplied). [55440/25] - Grant Payments
529. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 515 of 30 September 2025, if she will consider a request for a Remote Area Grant based on (details... - Oideachas Gaeltachta
530. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students in Irish medium schools in the Gaeltacht regions in Donegal who did the Junior Cycle Irish exam (T1 exam); to provide a... - Education Policy
533. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there is a higher marking criteria for students who take the Junior Cycle Irish T1 exam than the T2 exam. [55455/25] - Departmental Data
536. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a list of all grants currently available to schools for capital works, equipment, or storage facilities; and if she will make...
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