Results 2,541-2,560 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Higher Education Grants. (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I do not have a more recent socio-economic breakdown. It would be much easier to get that type of information if one body was responsible for collating it. However, that there are so many different groups with so many different schemes and grants makes it very difficult to collate such information. That is why I am determined to move ahead with this. We have already discussed in the House the...

Higher Education Grants. (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Our discussions with the Department of Social and Family Affairs would indicate that it will not end up there. It is important, anyway, that it should be closely linked to the Department of Education and Science. At this stage, I do not envisage the Department taking responsibility for it. Other groups such as the IVEA and the local authorities, are currently responsible for some of the...

Higher Education Grants. (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The legislation will provide for the unification of the scheme. Obviously, it would not be appropriate to be too prescriptive in legislation as it would need to be amended each time one wanted to change limits, ages and so forth. It is not envisaged, therefore, that such issues will be part of the legislation. We are conscious, however, that times are changing and different needs must be...

Higher Education Grants. (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: There is no doubt that some councils and VECs are much better than others in this regard. Students have been left waiting even beyond Christmas for the initial grant. When I told one student president that I was aware of a student who, in years gone by, survived in Letterkenny on porridge from October to Christmas, he told me students are surviving on pasta which one can now buy for €5 for...

Third Level Funding. (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As I announced in April, the Government has approved the establishment of a strategic innovation fund which aims to encourage reform and capacity building in the higher education sector in accordance with the recent recommendations of the OECD review of higher education. The fund will promote inter-institutional collaboration to achieve a system-wide approach to supporting wider national...

Third Level Funding. (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Higher Education Authority has established the process of attracting and seeking submissions. It will be for the authority, bearing in mind Government priorities and the priorities I have set out, to allocate the funding. I am satisfied that different faculties were included in the distribution of funding for the PRTLI and that there was no question of any social element being excluded....

School Accommodation. (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department's records are held on a calendar year basis rather than by academic year and the information which I am providing reflects that position. Since the start of 2004, my Department has spent €9.9 million on the purchase of prefabricated buildings at primary level. This expenditure was for the supply and installation of prefabricated buildings, including associated site works and...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy is aware, my Department has issued a letter to all primary schools notifying them of their resource teaching allocation under the new general allocation scheme for the 2005-06 school year. The school referred to by the Deputy has been notified that it has a general allocation of 12.5 hours, based on an enrolment of 49 pupils. The letter also included details of the arrangement...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy may be aware, my Department has issued a letter to all primary schools notifying them of their teaching allocation under the new general allocation model for the 2005-06 school year. The letter also includes details of any clustering arrangements that may apply. One of the objectives of the general allocation model is to maximise the extent of full-time permanent posts available...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I have already addressed the issue raised here in an earlier question. The school referred to by the Deputy opened in September 1996 with provisional recognition. Having met the criteria for recognition and proven its viability, the school was granted permanent recognition in 2000. Standard practice is that the school authorities are responsible for the securing of interim accommodation which...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I have included the building project for the school in question in my recently announced list of school projects to be progressed through architectural planning in 2005. The building project is at an early stage of architectural planning — stage 1-2-3, detail plans-costs. The stage submission for this project has recently been examined by my...

Written Answers — Higher Education Sector: Higher Education Sector (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 62 and 72 together. The OECD review of Irish higher education makes a series of far-reaching recommendations for reform and development of the sector, against the backdrop of the crucial role which has been identified for it in helping to achieve the broad strategic national goal of becoming a leading knowledge-based society. The Government has approved the...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: School building projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need using published criteria. In this regard, an application from the school to which the Deputy refers was received in the planning section of my Department on Thursday last, 9 June 2005, seeking additional accommodation for the 2006-07 school year onwards....

Written Answers — Vetting Procedures: Vetting Procedures (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 64, 128, 147 and 674 together. The central vetting unit is run by the Garda Síochána and it is therefore the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who has primary responsibility in this area. The vetting unit is responsible for vetting requests in relation to prospective employees of designated agencies who would have substantial unsupervised access...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 780 together. I am aware of the submission of the parents' association of the school referred to by the Deputies and of the board of management's appeal in respect of the loss of a mainstream teaching post. The staffing of a primary school is determined by reference to the enrolment of the school on 30 September of the previous school year, and by...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Significant improvements have been made in the pupil-teacher ratio and in average class size in recent years. The average class size at primary level is now 23.9, down from 26.6 in 1996-97. The pupil-teacher ratio, which includes all the teachers including resource teachers, has fallen from 22.2:1 in the 1996-97 school year to 17.44:1 in 2003-04. Over 4,000 additional teachers have been...

Written Answers — Early Childhood Education: Early Childhood Education (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Early education in Ireland covers the period from birth to six years. Almost all five year olds and half of four year olds attend junior infant and senior infant classes in primary schools. Provision for children below the age of four is targeted at specific groups. Outside of junior classes in primary schools, my Department's main role in the area of early childhood education encompasses...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is considering an extension project at the school to which the Deputy refers in the context of the overall school building and modernisation programme 2005-2009. The project has been assessed and will be prioritised using the published prioritisation criteria. The project will provide a general purposes room and ancillary accommodation. In 2002, following a specific approach...

Written Answers — Literacy Levels: Literacy Levels (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: In 2004, the inspectorate of my Department carried out a focused evaluation of educational provision in the areas of literacy and numeracy development in 12 primary schools with a high concentration of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. The purposes of the evaluation were to report on the quality of provision for literacy and numeracy development in the selected schools; to identify the...

Written Answers — Schools Funding: Schools Funding (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy is aware, issues were raised in a number of quarters about the funding provided by my Department to Coláiste Mhuire Marino-Marino Institute of Education for the training of primary teachers. I announced, on 6 May, that I had asked PricewaterhouseCoopers to "examine the question of the use of monies paid by the Department of Education and Science to Coláiste Mhuire...