Parliamentary questions

Teaching Qualifications

Sorca Clarke

76. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education if she plans to remove the Catholic certificate that is required to teach in most schools in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16253/24]

School Transport

Sorca Clarke

88. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the engagements her Department has had with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in relation to the school transport scheme. [16339/24]

School Staff

Sorca Clarke

103. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education if she will provide the latest update on the pay negotiations deal between her Department and a union (details supplied) in respect of increased salaries and additional leave entitlements for school caretakers; when her Department will publish the study her Department had committed to as a means to understanding the current working patterns as well as the terms and conditions of work for school caretakers; when her Department will implement a similar pay and conditions package for grant-funded school caretakers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16337/24]

Departmental Programmes

Sorca Clarke

104. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the engagements her Department has had with the Department of Transport in relation to the safe routes to school programme. [16254/24]

National Educational Psychological Service

Sorca Clarke

126. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education her plans to address the staffing crisis within the National Educational Psychological Service. [16338/24]

Departmental Programmes

Sorca Clarke

197. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Transport to outline the proportion of the funding allocated to the safe routes to school programme that has been expended for the purposes of improving walking and cycling infrastructure in each of the years 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024; and to provide a breakdown of the projects funded to date and the nature of works carried out. [15977/24]

School Transport

Sorca Clarke

268. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education to outline the first- and full-year current cost of increasing capacity on school transport by 1,000 places, in tabular form. [15978/24]

School Transport

Sorca Clarke

269. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education to outline the capital cost of increasing capacity on school transport by 1,000 places. [15979/24]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Sorca Clarke

270. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education to provide a breakdown of the estimated first and full-year current cost and one-off capital cost of reducing the pupil teacher ratio by one point at primary level in academic year 2024/2025 and by a further one point in academic year 2025/2026, in tabular form. [15980/24]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Sorca Clarke

271. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education to provide a breakdown of the estimated first and full-year current cost and one-off capital cost of reducing the pupil teacher ratio by one point at post-primary level in academic year 2024/2025 and by a further one point in academic year 2025/2026, in tabular form. [15981/24]

Special Educational Needs

Sorca Clarke

272. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the estimated first and full-year cost of increasing the number of special needs assistants by 500, 1,000 and 1,500 respectively, in tabular form. [15984/24]

Special Educational Needs

Sorca Clarke

273. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education to provide a breakdown of the first and full-year cost of recruiting 100, 500, and 1,000 special education teachers respectively, in tabular form. [15985/24]

Special Educational Needs

Sorca Clarke

274. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the cost of increasing the salary of special education teachers by 1%, 2% and 5%, in tabular form. [15986/24]

School Funding

Sorca Clarke

275. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the estimated net savings from withdrawing the annual State subsidy to private schools. [15987/24]

School Funding

Sorca Clarke

276. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the estimate cost of increasing the minor works grant ceiling by 1%, 5% and 10% respectively, in tabular form. [15988/24]

School Textbooks

Sorca Clarke

277. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the estimated first and full-year cost of extending the free schoolbooks to all pupils in public secondary schools, in tabular form. [15989/24]

School Facilities

Sorca Clarke

278. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the estimated first and full-year cost of restoring the school libraries fund of €10 per child in academic year 2024-2025 and increasing this by a further €2.50 per child in academic year 2025-2026, in tabular form. [15990/24]

School Facilities

Sorca Clarke

279. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the estimated first and full-year cost of providing €10 per child to each primary and post-primary school library. [15991/24]

School Funding

Sorca Clarke

280. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the estimated first and full-year cost of increasing the guidance counselling funding by 5%, 10% and 20% respectively, in tabular form. [15992/24]

School Transport

Sorca Clarke

281. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education to provide a breakdown of the total projected demand for mainstream transport services and the additional demand for services compared to the as-is scenario respectively in each of the school years 2024/2025 to 2029/2030, in tabular form, if recommendation 4.1a of the phase 3 report of the review of the school transport scheme is implemented in full from the start of the 2024/2025 school year. [16004/24]