Results 2,781-2,800 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: No. The appropriate mechanism to ensure the board is included is to request the Department of Finance to provide for its inclusion in the next list of additions to the Schedule to the Act. It will be done by statutory instrument rather than by primary legislation. A similar issue arose in the case of the Grangegorman Development Agency Bill. While individual Departments submit lists of bodies...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I move amendment No. 21: In page 18, to delete line 10 and substitute the following: "(b) that measures or specified measures be taken to remedy, mitigate or alter the adverse effect of the action, or (c) that the reasons for taking the action be given". Amendment No. 20 seeks to ensure the Ombudsman has sufficient powers to investigate any complaints made to her office. Following completion...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: It will.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Parliamentary Counsel advised the adoption of the approach set out in the amendment which means the Ombudsman will not have to carry out a preliminary inquiry before a direct or full inquiry. The answer to Deputy Enright's question is that the board will be covered by the Ombudsman Act.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: It will happen as soon as the board is established.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am advised the approach in the amendment is best. The Ombudsman has already investigated a matter arising in the education board. The amendment will probably strengthen her hand and allow her office to go further. She has already been doing the work. If further information is available, I will provide it to Deputies.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: It is important to state that the confidentiality clause in the Residential Institutions Redress Act refers specifically to an application to that board, to any dealings with it, to the results thereof and to the awards made. It does not in any way preclude an individual from talking about their experiences within an institution or sharing that information with others. This privacy has suited...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Allowing a survivor to do this would allow him or her to state that he or she was in a particular institution, made his or her claim and was awarded a stated amount of money. This would be apportioning blame to the institution, although the institution would not have had an opportunity to protect its good name before the board. We must remember that the institution is part of the process....

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The board does not deal with individual people or particular incidents; it just takes on board what survivors have to say. If the amendment were accepted, each case would turn into a mini-trial because the findings would be public. Nobody wants this to happen.

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Based on my Department's examination of the register of persons disqualified or restricted from holding a directorship of a private company, I am satisfied that no such person is currently a member of any body under the aegis of my Department.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: SNAs are assigned to schools to meet the care needs of individual children who have been assessed by a psychologist as needing this type of support. There has been no change to the criteria or guidelines for allocating SNA support to schools and there are no plans to review the criteria or guidelines under which SNA support is allocated. Applications for SNA support are now dealt with by the...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school to which the Deputy refers applied to the planning section of my Department on 9 June 2005 for additional accommodation for the 2006-07 school year onwards. There is no indication in the application that the school has any additional accommodation requirements for the 2005-06 school year. The application will be assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation for large...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The mainstream staffing of a primary school is determined by reference to the enrolment of the school on the 30 September of the previous school year and by reference to a staffing schedule. This staffing schedule is outlined in primary circular 15/05 which issued to all primary schools recently. This is in line with guidelines agreed between my Department and the education partners. In the...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: 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 to support the needs of...

Written Answers — Schools Amalgamation: Schools Amalgamation (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is fully aware of the need to provide a solution to the long-term accommodation needs of the school referred to by the Deputy and is actively considering two options. The first option is the provision of a new school on a greenfield site. The property management section of the Office for Public Works, which acts on behalf of my Department in site acquisitions generally, has...

Written Answers — Irish Language Textbooks: Irish Language Textbooks (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am committed to ensuring that suitable high quality text books and teaching materials are developed specifically for use in Gaeltacht and other all-Irish schools. Under the Education Act 1998, An Comhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta was established in March 2002. One of the main objectives of the chomhairle is the planning and co-ordination of the provision of textbooks...

Written Answers — School Placement: School Placement (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Enrolment decisions are the responsibility of the board of management of each individual school. My Department has no role in relation to processing applications for enrolment by schools. Section 29 of the Education Act 1998, provides parents with an appeal process where a board of management of a school or a person acting on behalf of the board refuses enrolment to a student. Where a school...

Written Answers — Tribunals of Inquiry: Tribunals of Inquiry (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse is the only relevant inquiry in respect of my Department. Detailed information is being compiled and a comprehensive reply will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: In general post-primary routes are planned so that no eligible pupil will have more than 3.2 kilometres to travel to a pick up point. In this case, the family referred to in the details supplied reside less than 3.2 kilometres from the present pick-up point. As this service is within the school transport scheme guidelines the present arrangement is the most that can be offered. There is...

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: On foot of a Government decision, the then Minister for Education and Science formally established the State Examinations Commission on 6 March 2003. The commission now has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations and this includes the matter raised by the Deputy. I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the State Examinations Commission for...