Results 2,801-2,820 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has provided annual funding of €63,500 to the Dyslexia Association of Ireland since 1999. This funding has helped the association to operate an information service for members and the public. Part of this funding has assisted in meeting the costs associated with the attendance of some children from disadvantaged backgrounds at workshops and programmes organised by the...

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

Mary Hanafin: The report of the task force on dyslexia contains over 60 individual recommendations ranging across a wide variety of issues from identification and assessment, to models of service delivery, specialist training for service providers, to issues relating to structural reforms and the maintenance of a database of pupils with specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia, who are in receipt...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The accommodation needs of the school in question are being assessed by officials in the school planning section of my Department in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria which was revised following consultation with the education partners. When a final decision is taken on the matter, the question of the acquisition of a site will be considered.

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

Mary Hanafin: The National Council for Special Education which became operational on 1 January 2005 now processes all applications for special educational needs supports. My officials will arrange to contact the local special needs organiser on the matter raised by the Deputy.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: In 2001, costs amounted to €986,985.10. In 2002 costs amounted to €1,242,739.28. In 2003 costs amounted to €123,315.78. The drop in departmental expenditure was due to the establishment of the State Examinations Commission as an independent agency in March 2003. In 2004 costs amounted to €270,536.64, an increase due to the EU Presidency term. To date in 2005 costs amounted to...

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

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 319 and 320 together. 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. This includes the matter raised by the Deputy. I have forwarded the question...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: All vehicles operating under the school transport scheme are required to meet the statutory regulations as laid down by the Department of Transport. Where vehicles have over eight adult seats and are more than one year old, they are required to pass that Department's annual roadworthiness test. In addition, Bus Éireann vehicles are subject to a routine scheduled maintenance programme to...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The building project at the school has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria, which was revised last year following consultation with the education partners. The project will be considered in the context of the school building and modernisation programme 2005-09.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Special needs assistants 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 special needs assistant support to schools and there are no plans to review the criteria or guidelines under which special needs assistant support is...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school is included in the rural dimension of my Department's Giving Children an Even Break programme aimed at combating educational disadvantage. The school receives additional financial resources to provide educational supports to be targeted at disadvantaged pupils. The new action plan for educational inclusion, Delivering Equality Of Opportunity In Schools, which I launched recently,...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Officials in the school planning section of my Department are working on the detail of the summer works scheme for 2006. I hope to be in a position to announce it shortly.

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: In recent years many improvements have been made to enable principal teachers in primary schools to perform their administrative duties. Up until the 1999-2000 school year, principals were released from teaching duties to become an administrative principal where the school had a staffing of eight or more mainstream class teachers. From the commencement of the 2000-01 school year,...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 152 and 153 together. 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 is grant aided...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Details of the total annual budget for my Department and the percentage of the budget that was underspent in each year are given in the table below. The Deputy should note that the annual Estimates and budgetary process is not generally constructed on the basis of individual projects but that total expenditure is broken into a number of subheads. Underspends and overspends can occur in any of...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (16 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 — Overseas Students: Overseas Students (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The report on the internationalisation of Irish education services was completed by the working group in September 2004 and published in November 2004. My Department is continuing to engage in a consultation process with the main stakeholders in the sector with a view to informing the implementation process and the preparation of the necessary legislation to establish Education Ireland. As...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I have included phase two of the building project for the school in question in my recently announced list of school projects to be progressed through architectural planning in 2005. Phase one of the building project is currently under construction and is due for completion in the near future. Phase two of the building project is at an early stage of...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: A member of my Department's technical staff recently met representatives of the board of management of the school in question to discuss how best to progress the proposed project. I understand that applications for planning permission and a fire safety certificate will be lodged with the relevant local authority as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school referred to by the Deputy submitted an application under the summer works scheme for 2005 for grant aid for roof repairs, conversion works and a covered walkway. The school identified roof repairs and conversion works as its highest priority project and was successful in obtaining funding for these works. It will not be possible to allocate further funding to the school this year...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: No additional educational psychologists have been assigned to national schools in County Kildare so far in 2005. At present, a total of 72 national schools in County Kildare do not have a National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologist assigned to them. However, it is important to note that all schools in the county have access to psychological assessments, either directly...