Results 2,761-2,780 of 8,015 for speaker:Jonathan O'Brien

Public Sector Management (Appointment of Senior Members of the Garda Síochána) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: I concur with many of the points made by Deputy Niall Collins. If the establishment of an independent policing authority were not imminent, the Bill would certainly deliver an improvement on the current position of having appointments made at Cabinet level by the Minister. What is being proposed in this Bill is the establishment of a body where nominations would come before 158 Deputies...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Preschool Services (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 220. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on his Department's goal to improve the oral language competence of young children in early childhood care and education settings and its readiness to develop early mathematical language and ideas; and the mechanism used to measure same. [25314/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Literacy and Numeracy Levels (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 221. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of primary school children performing at level 3 or higher in the national assessment of mathematics and English reading in second class and sixth class during each of the past seven years. [25315/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Literacy and Numeracy Levels (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 222. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of children performing at level 1 or lower in the national assessment of mathematics and English reading in second class and sixth class during each of the past seven years. [25316/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Retention Rates (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 223. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the improvement that has been made in improving retention rates for students in second level schools. [25317/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 224. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who took higher levels maths in the junior certificate during each of the past five years including 2014. [25318/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 225. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who took higher levels maths in the leaving certificate during each of the past five years including 2014. [25319/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Literacy Levels (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 226. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of 15 year old students performing at or above level 4 in PISA reading literacy and numeracy tests during each of the past five years. [25320/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Literacy Levels (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 227. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of 15 year old students performing at or below level 1 in PISA reading literacy and numeracy tests during each of the past five years. [25321/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early Child Care Education (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 230. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of GDP spent on early years education during each of the past ten years. [25346/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 260. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reasons third level institutions are allowed to ringfence vacancies for persons currently employed in other educational institutions here. [25971/14]

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Educational Disadvantage (17 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: 785. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide an update on the implementation of the national early years access initiative and the area-based childhood ABC programme. [25236/14]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Possible Reconfiguration of Schools: Edmund Rice Schools Trust (18 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: I thank the witnesses for appearing before the committee to discuss this issue. Obviously, I have an interest in this matter because of the proposed amalgamation of North Monastery primary school in Cork with another school. I have listened with interest to what Mr. Bennett had to say in relation to primary schools, namely, that the ERST is the trustee but not the patron. I do not know if...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Possible Reconfiguration of Schools: Edmund Rice Schools Trust (18 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Possible Reconfiguration of Schools: Edmund Rice Schools Trust (18 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: Where the confusion arises is that initially, there was a proposal to enrol junior and senior infants. The next thing parents and teachers knew was that there was a proposal, which was presented as a proposal from ERST, to close the school and amalgamate it with St. Vincent's. Now when that hit the airwaves, there was pandemonium. We are talking about a school on a campus, which has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Possible Reconfiguration of Schools: Edmund Rice Schools Trust (18 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: What was the rationale for the proposal to close the school, which has all of the sports facilities and has the capacity to expand in the future, if needs be, and to amalgamate it with a school which has a school yard the size of this room? Nobody has answered those questions. What Mr. Bennett has told me is that what happened was that there was a proposal to address the falling enrolment...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Possible Reconfiguration of Schools: Edmund Rice Schools Trust (18 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: What is the next step to address the fall in school numbers because if one is not taken, we will be back here in 12 months' time? Will there be a consultation process? What is the next step?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Possible Reconfiguration of Schools: Edmund Rice Schools Trust (18 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: Can I just ask about conflicts of interest-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Possible Reconfiguration of Schools: Edmund Rice Schools Trust (18 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: Thanks. Do the witnesses not think that the situation is strange? The bishop is patron of one primary school and a trustee of a neighbouring primary school. A proposal is made to close the school of which he is patron and to move the school of which he is a trustee into it. Do the witnesses not see the conflict of interest that could arise by having one individual as a patron of one...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jun 2014)

Jonathan O'Brien: We are in the midst of a housing crisis, as the Minister is well aware. Tens of thousands of householders are in mortgage distress, almost 100,000 people are on social housing lists, 78,000 are in receipt of rent supplement and 5,000 are designated as homeless. As part of this Government's solution to that housing crisis, we will today conclude the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill...