Results 2,421-2,440 of 23,957 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: The previous closing date was 20 March, while 20 September was the closing date for demand that has arisen in the meantime. The NCSE has told the Minister that just under 500 teachers will be required to meet that demand. Those children currently have a need for resource teaching support which has been applied for. They have been identified as having that need. Are those teachers...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: Go raibh maith agat.

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 62. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of application for special needs support that were received prior to the 20 September deadline; the number that were received subsequent to that deadline; the comparison between the numbers of these applications with the previous year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42223/13]

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Minister for his reply although I am not sure I understood him correctly. Did the Minister say that the NCSE received 7,450 SNA applications last year and that more than 10,400 posts were allocated?

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: That would indicate that more than one SNA per application was sought. Those figures do not ring true. As I understand it, the number of SNA posts sought is much higher. For example, more than 22,000 applications for SNA supports will have been received and approved this year. I also asked in my question for the number of new applications received as of the closing date of 20 September...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: The information provided today is not satisfactory. The figures provided do not add up. As rightly pointed out by the Minister, demand for special needs assistant supports has increased by more than 10%, which is similar to the increase in demand for resource teachers. The Minister initially proposed to cut the number of resource teaching hours but subsequently reversed that decision. He...

Other Questions: Universities Global Rankings (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Minister indicated in his reply, we need to be cautious about the different university rankings. Two have been published in recent weeks, the Times Higher Education survey and the QS world university rankings. One had some universities going up and the other had the same universities going down. Trinity College is a case in point. The Minister pointed out the fact that we are in...

Other Questions: Universities Global Rankings (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I agree with the Minister in the sense that funding is not the only aspect that determines quality of education. As the Minister observed, some universities are rising in the surveys while others are falling. However, one cannot continue down the pathway the Minister has taken of reducing funding and increasing intake. This certainly has been having an impact on pupil-teacher ratios and on...

Other Questions: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Minister for his reply. As he is aware, many of the people who will benefit from the fund and who will need to avail of it are among those the State failed badly in the past. Many of them are elderly and require the type of supports that the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board is expected to provide. I have met a number of the people in question and I am aware they...

Other Questions: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: What is the position with regard to €110 million which the board, by means of the fund, is going to disburse? When will the board, subject to the terms of reference being agreed, be in a position to accept applications and release moneys?

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I support Deputy Kyne's call for resource teaching hours for children with Down's syndrome and to have them added to the low incidence resource qualifying hours. Will the Minister clarify the deadline for the report to be completed? Following on from that, what timeline does he expect for any new system he may consider? As Deputy Kyne said, in the meantime, children with Down's syndrome...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 202. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children with Down Syndrome within the education system who do not receive any resource hours; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41892/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Physical Education (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 221. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way the proposal to reduce PE from a subject to an optional short course in the new Junior Cycle Framework will impact on the implementation of the Get Active Guiding Framework, which was recently launched and which aims to create a co-ordinated approach to physical education, physical activity and sport in school and community settings...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Physical Education (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 222. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills in view of research from the 2009 Children's Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study, which shows that only 10% of secondary school students received the Department of Education and Skills' recommended amount of PE per week, the impact of reducing the provision of PE from a designated subject of 198 hours over three years to a optional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Physical Education (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 223. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment are re-considering proposals to limit PE to a 100-hour short course in the new Junior Cycle Framework; if they will re-assign PE’s subject status to ensure that students continue to get 198 hours of PE during the course of their three-years of the Junior Cycle; and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 203. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the disabilities that qualify for automatic low-incidence resource hours and the number of children currently receiving resource hours for each of these disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41893/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 204. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the possible date in October when the funds from the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund will be made available for the use of survivors of abuse, many of whom are elderly and sick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41895/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 205. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the release of the funds for the survivors of abuse will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41896/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 220. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools who sought additional help hours in the delivery of the requirements of section 9(c) of the Education Act in the past 12 months; the number his Department approved; and the total numbers of hours allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42083/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 247. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will specify the change in the number of guidance hours delivered by guidance counsellors (details supplied) across all recognised second level schools and colleges of further education for the academic year 2012-2013, in contrast to the returns from the previous year. [42426/13]