The Deputy was here last week when I said we would be back again next Wednesday and I would bring a detailed submission and guidelines to Cabinet on Friday. That has not changed. I cannot determine when I am and am not in here. I am absolutely delighted to be back, and today is an opportunity for Deputies, as representatives of their communities and constituencies, to put forward advice as to who they want to see included. The Deputy knows that on Friday we will have the guidelines and a roadmap for the reopening o…

I am sorry but I did not catch that. The Deputy said not a-----

Let us deal with the Deputy's first question on traditional July provision. Last year, 70% of the summer programme was home based. Out of 4,000 schools, 232 signed up. We will find out within the next three days - after formal contact with the schools and once we have got approval from the Cabinet - what type of feedback we will get from the schools. Our contacts with them so far have been quite positive. Schools will have issues until they know what the working protocol will be. In providing those guidelines, we w…

We need to establish what is the demand. Parents will have the opportunity to register on Friday, so that will give us an indication of the demand. From an information point of view, provision is not just broken down into school-based and home tuition. There are other school settings and settings outside of school where parents can come together in a group of ten in a community-based setting, such as Spraoi agus Spórt family centre in Carndonagh, County Donegal, Juniper Tree Autism Services in Athlone, Autism Suppo…

The contribution prior to Deputy Feighan's contained some more technical questions in respect of which information will be provided on Friday. The Deputy asked about parents requesting home tuition. That is very much part of this scheme and we will have more detail on it. The protocol on work practices for the tutor coming into the house needs to be mapped out before that happens. I reassure parents that the home-based tuition that happened last year and in previous years will also be an option for this year. On op…

Yes, this might cover a lot of the other questions that have been raised on the summer programme. On Scoil Chrónáin, I will be happy to ask one of my officials to reach out to her in that regard. There is anxiety and a need to bring clarity to the summer programme as soon as possible. I get that, the frustration coming from parents and the need for that clarity. That is why I am very focused on bringing a properly worked out memorandum to Cabinet on Friday. To answer Deputy Higgins, we will bring clarity to this on…

I thank the Deputy for his contribution. As for the different analyses of last week's contributions from the officials and what happened on Friday, basically what happened on Thursday was under certain health advice but on Friday changed everything. On Friday, the NPHET advice was that schools will reopen and the school summer programme could go ahead. When we were given the green light, obviously everything moved into a more expansive phase also. My officials know where I stand on this. I want to be as inclusive a…

I appreciate the comments made by the Deputy. I do not know how much longer I will be in my current position. One of the things I have greatly valued during my time in the Department is that its officials are very open-minded and good to work with. There are times when we have differing opinions, but that is life and it brings discussion and an energy to the Department. On the issue of the summer education programme, there has been intense and focused work at departmental level. That is not to take away from the ot…

There are three strands, if the Deputy wants to break it down into specifics. There is a health-based strand, and I am working very closely with the Minister, Deputy Harris, and his officials are working closely with mine, with regard to children with complex medical needs. There are potentially 600 students in that category. I am meeting the Minister, Deputy Harris, at 3 p.m. to go through the work we have done and to come up with a roadmap for those children. There is also the traditional July provision, which 10…

NEPS has continuously been directly involved with the schools since 12 March and, in fact, it would have had a significant role in determining the cancellation of the leaving certificate in terms of the impact on well-being and mental health of students. NEPS has a critical role. Part of the weakness and the negative we in the Department have identified is that, because of the regression, it is about reconnecting with the schools. From engagement with parents, including individual engagements I have with parents, I…

There will be further clarity on the range of openings. One thing I have identified, as have my officials and the team with which I work, is that as the summer programme has a home-based strand and a school based strand, there could be different starting points. Registration starts on Friday and one will have a very simplified process. I do not want a bureaucratic process in terms of conveying basic information to the Department. We want to start that process. We are looking at July but obviously there could be an …

There always will be individual examples and cases. In the main, since 12 March schools have stayed connected and have not closed. While school buildings have closed, the education has not closed. Parents of children with special needs have seen ongoing engagement, be it the SNAs or principals staying in touch. Maybe that did not happen in all cases but in the main, that is the feedback we have received. The physical presence in the school is what has been missing and that is why we want to reconnect. We feel that …

The details of the scheme will be discussed on Friday and I will provide the information at a public level. With regard to the specific concern of the parent in Lucan who does not have a school opened in the general area, and perhaps never had, we call it home-based tuition but it does not necessarily have to be in the house. It can be as creative as possible. There is a lot of evidence in this regard. The relationship between the tutor and the student is important. There will be protocols, including health protoco…

The pupil-teacher ratio and the allocation of teachers are all part of the budget and I will not change the budget midway through the year. I get the Deputy's point and it was raised quite extensively in the House in discussing the challenges we will encounter in August and September with regard to extra resources. This is why I am engaging very closely with education stakeholders to ensure the roadmap we will provide on Friday for school reopenings will incorporate some of the concerns the Deputy has raised. With …

That is a matter for the Business Committee. I was here last week and I was here two weeks before that. I am second to the Minister, Deputy Harris, as the most frequent ministerial visitor to the House. I am happy to be here again today but last week I said quite clearly with regard to coming here today that the memo on the roadmap would go to the Government on Friday. To respond on the needs of the parents, the Deputy is correct in saying that parents want certainty and clarity on this. I will ensure that once we …

We have 70,000 teachers in the primary and post-primary sectors. The pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools will decline naturally because of demographics. Speaking as a former school teacher, the fewer pupils one has in a class, the better the teaching environment for the teacher. That is a given but the challenge we have in the annual budget is deciding how much money will go into certain areas. This is an example of one of those conflicts. I remember last September and October arguing back and forth with the Min…

I know the Acting Chairman has raised this issue as well and I am conscious that Deputy Brophy has raised it on a number of occasions. I am aware of the issue and my officials are examining it with a view to finding a solution.

I thank the Deputy for his contribution. He asked a question around resources that will go into the summer programme. Obviously, it is a demand-led scheme and is based on volunteerism. Last year, the July provision cost a little over €16 million. We are looking at an expanded scheme this year. This involves bringing in other groups. We will be looking to add significantly to the €16 million investment. Certainly, financial resources will not be a barrier in respect of this new summer programme. The challenge lies i…

The Deputy spoke about school places for children with special educational needs. What has happened here is that this is not just a Dublin or Cork based issue any more. Obviously there was a lot of pressure last year in Dublin 15. I did enact the legislation to which the Deputy referred but critical to that legislation was the co-operation of school authorities. We had a tremendous focus on the ground, engaging with the principals. I want to acknowledge, in particular, Monsignor Dan O'Connor who was pivotal in ensu…

I thank the Deputy for his contribution and his proposal. We are keeping the conversation line open on early intervention classes, and there will be more detail on same on Friday. I agree with his point about the transition from preschool to primary. We are engaging on it and will provide more clarity on Friday. He raised a range of issues concerning needs and schools knowing what the score was. No one more than I wants to get that information out there as quickly as possible, but the guidelines will be out on Frid…