Results 581-600 of 6,598 for speaker:Michael Moynihan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (17 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Bus Éireann is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes. Bus Éireann endeavours, within available resources, to ensure that each eligible child has a reasonable level of school transport service in the context of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (17 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: My department provides a range of supports for students with special educational needs including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. These supports are provided through mainstream classes, the 25 hearing impairment classes and through the two dedicated schools for Deaf children. The department has in place an Irish Sign Language (ISL) Home Tuition scheme which supports families of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 79 together. The estimated full-year cost of a new entrant special needs assistant is €35,030 per annum. The estimated average full-year cost of a special need assistant is €44,300 per annum. This includes employer PRSI. The table below outlines the annual cost as outlined by the Deputy. Number of SNAs New...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 80, 104 and 105 together. The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. In the current school year over 173,000 children are transported daily to schools throughout the country, with 68,300 travelling to primary schools and 104,700 travelling to post-primary...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 and 109 together. The Department of Education and Youth’s Summer Programme is an educational programme which is run during the summer period. Each year, all schools are given an opportunity to run a programme for those children who need it the most. The aim of the Summer Programme is to ensure that these children can continue to be supported,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has advised that just over 400 new special classes have been sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year. This includes a number of new Early Intervention classes bringing the total number of these classes to 160 for the 2025/26 school year. A number of new funding initiatives have been provided to schools this year when establishing a new...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 115 and 116 together. I propose to take PQs 115 and 116 together. It is anticipated that the Education Therapy Service (ETS) will commence in some special schools at a later stage in the 2025/26 school year. Further roll out of the service will occur on a phased basis with a wider roll-out to further special schools commencing in the 2026/27 school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport 2030 report was published in early 2024 following a comprehensive analysis and review of the scheme as it currently operates. The recommended changes to the future operation of the schemes include expansion of the current eligibility criteria, addressing current operational challenges and moving towards better integration with public transport to ensure the best value for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. The retirement age for school bus drivers has been set by Bus Éireann at 70 years of age, which also applies to all Bus Éireann road passenger services. The policy and criteria also apply to drivers nominated by private operators who operate services...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an appropriate education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for me, my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The Assessment of Need (AON) process is provided for under the Disability Act 2005 and is a process under the remit and responsibility of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Therefore, any queries regarding assessment of need waiting lists should be directed to the HSE and the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (16 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. A range of options are available to teachers in regard to training opportunities in special education. These are provided within initial teacher education (ITE) programmes for...

Commission of Investigation (Handling of Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools) Order 2025: Motion (15 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this hugely important and challenging motion. I join the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in recognising that the enormous contribution of the survivors whose tireless work and participation has brought us to this point today. I add my personal note of welcome to David Ryan who is in the Gallery, and who spoke so compellingly about his experiences...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (15 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (15 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Under the current terms of the scheme, pupils at primary level are eligible where they live no less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest primary school. At post primary level, students who live no less than 4.8 kilometres from and are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (15 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 438 and 439 together. Aligned to the publication of the Department of Education Understanding Behaviours of Concern and Responding to Crisis Situations guidelines, a training programme is provided to schools consisting of three elements (Circular 0081/2024). The NCSE provides a comprehensive programme of teacher professional learning to all special schools....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (15 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: For September 2025/26 there will be 23,179 special need assistant (SNA) posts nationwide. The estimated full-year cost of a new entrant special needs assistant is €35,030 per annum. The estimated average full-year cost of a special need assistant is €44,300 per annum. This includes employer PRSI. The table below outlines the current annual cost to increase SNA posts to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (15 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. The information requested by the Deputy in relation to County Monaghan has been provided in the attached table. 2022/23 School Year 2022/23 School Year 2023/24 School Year 2023/24 School Year 2024/25...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (15 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (15 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: Each school is provided with special education teaching (SET) hours to support children who have been identified with an additional learning need via the continuum of support framework. There are over 14,700 special education teachers supporting students with additional needs attending mainstream classes in the 2024/25 school year, which is an increase of over 1,000 since the end of the...