Results 4,941-4,960 of 9,823 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Research Funding (2 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 356. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to put in place another five year cycle of the PRTLI for the period 2018 to 2022; her views on whether the €10 million allocation to the PRTLI in 2017 is sufficient to support research in universities and institutes of technology under the programme, in view of the fact that this amounts to just 17% of the 2011...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Teacher Recruitment (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: That is my point. It is not satisfactory that we do not have enough physics teachers but the Minister is doing nothing about it. He is almost putting his hands up and saying he cannot do anything about it. Of course he can. The organisations responsible for training our secondary teachers must be given some directions. Let us be honest. A student with a 2.2 degree in a subject which...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Teacher Recruitment (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: There is no way of doing that.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Teacher Recruitment (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: It would simply be a matter of the Minister directing someone to train a certain number of physics teachers.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Teacher Recruitment (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 21. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans regarding the issue of teacher supply; the reason the interim report on teacher supply has not been followed up; and if his attention has been drawn to the details of the secondary teachers who are qualifying and the subjects in which they are qualifying and the impact this inaction has on plans for the education sector. [10619/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Teacher Recruitment (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: This question raises another crucially important issue in the field of education, and one that it is fair to say has been completely ignored by the Department over the past number of years. It is hardly mentioned in the various action plans. Indeed, any action the Minister wants to take within the schools field in the Department of Education and Skills is utterly predicated on this issue of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Teacher Recruitment (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister is telling the House that not only his predecessor, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, but he sat on this crucial issue and the Minister and the Department do not have a clue what subjects teachers are qualifying in. When the Minister comes out with his announcements, for example, coding will be the next big thing, languages are very important or we must emphasise STEM subjects, he has no...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 19. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to introduce a fair appeals system for schools not admitted to the DEIS programme; the reason the entry criteria for DEIS are not based on the latest census data; and if work is actually complete on the model for achieving DEIS status. [10618/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: I wish to ask the Minister about his plans to introduce a fair appeals system for schools that have not been admitted to the DEIS process, a process that seems to be fairly arbitrary. Can he also tell me why the entry criteria for DEIS are not based on the latest census results? Could he tell me whether work on the model for achieving DEIS has been completed because it must be said that it...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: The truth is that the Government did not have its act together on this project. This was rushed out and done without thought and clarity. It is not clear to schools what the criteria are. How many people must be from an area of disadvantage for the school to qualify for DEIS status? There is also a very obvious flaw in whatever the methodology is in that if there are two schools in one...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: It was rushed because, as the Minister said, the Government did not wait until the up-to-date census figures were published. What will happen in July? What the Minister described to me is not the entry criteria for DEIS but the criteria for the Pobal HP deprivation index for small areas. The Minister has not set out clearly for schools how the Department extrapolates that information and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Brexit Issues (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 36. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on meetings and discussions he or his officials have had with counterparts in other EU states with regard to the impact of Brexit on third level fees that would be charged to Irish or other EU citizens studying in the UK or Northern Ireland and-or other barriers to access for Irish or EU students to studying in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service Administration (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 53. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address the fact that there are 95,000 pupils in 396 schools across the country who have no National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologist assigned to them for assessment; and his views on whether the current ratio of psychologists to students is allowing timely access to assessment for children presenting with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Expenditure (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 56. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the options he is exploring for availing of the opportunities provided under the European Fund for Strategic Investments to boost capital expenditure on schools and-or institutes of technology; if his Department is exploring any additional PPP projects under the EFSI; and if not, the reason this is the case. [10484/17]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 59. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress being made on resolving the dispute with the ASTI union over junior certificate reform; and his views on whether students sitting the English and science examinations in ASTI schools are being unfairly treated in this dispute and should have the threat of losing 10% of their marks on the oral examination removed. [10488/17]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 71. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address concerns of school principals that they have not been provided with enough information on the way the allocations of resource and learning support teaching will be allocated for the 2017-18 school term; and if he will further address concerns that schools that experience a rise in identified special needs in 2017 and 2018...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Home Care Packages Provision (1 Mar 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 252. To ask the Minister for Health when a home care package will be put in place for a person (details supplied). [10552/17]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Help-To-Buy Scheme Administration (28 Feb 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 238. To ask the Minister for Finance if the first time buyers grant can be used to contribute towards a required deposit; and the mechanism in place to ensure it can be available for this purpose at contract stage. [10263/17]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff Contracts (28 Feb 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 294. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of hours that constitute a full-time working week for a special needs assistant. [9831/17]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (28 Feb 2017)

Thomas Byrne: 296. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will make a decision on maintenance grants for third level students that attend private colleges. [9833/17]