Results 3,221-3,240 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 616 to 619, inclusive, together. The specific information requested by the Deputy on the number of rural primary schools in County Roscommon and nationwide that have lost permanent resource teaching support is not readily available in my Department. Circular 01/05 refers to the establishment of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. The NCSE became...
- Written Answers — Third Level Institutions: Third Level Institutions (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: The figures for the new entrants to the medical schools in Ireland for the 2003-04 academic year can be seen in the following table. As the Deputy will be aware, a working group on undergraduate medical education and training, representative of education and health interests, has been reviewing the organisation and delivery of medical training and education in Ireland. I anticipate that the...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: To date, my Department has spent â¬44,310.68 on English-Irish translation services. Not all of this is attributable to the Official Languages Act as under section 10, the type of documents which must be published in the Irish and English language simultaneously include the following: any document setting out public policy proposals; annual reports; audited account or financial statements;...
- Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 622 and 623 together. The total expenditure on school transport services in 2004 was â¬109.845 million. The actual divide of expenditure between the primary and post-primary sectors, or by county, is not readily available. The most recent figures available indicate that about 30% of the budget is being expended on transport and grants for children with...
- Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: The school planning section of my Department is in receipt of an application for major capital funding from the school management authorities referred to by the Deputy. The management authority of this school informed my Department that it had approached a local developer who had expressed an interest in acquiring the existing school site as part of an arrangement which would allow the school...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 625 to 632, inclusive, together. I will arrange for a response to the queries to be forwarded to the Deputy at an early date.
- Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: The average age of the Bus Ãireann large capacity school bus is 16 years and the average age of all buses used for school transport is 11.5 years. It must be emphasised that an older bus does not mean an unsafe bus. No bus which is unsafe or dangerous is allowed onto the road to carry children. All vehicles operating under the school transport scheme are required to meet the statutory...
- Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: Legislation regarding the fitting and wearing of seat belts in public service vehicles including school buses is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Transport. EU Directive 2003/20 requires seat belts to be used where they are fitted. This directive must be transposed into national law by 9 May 2006. Separately, proposals to extend the requirement for seat belts in all new...
- Written Answers — National Educational Welfare Board: National Educational Welfare Board (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: The Education (Welfare) Act 2000 established the National Educational Welfare Board as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance. The Act provides a comprehensive framework promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. The general functions of the board are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school...
- Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: To alleviate the school's immediate accommodation difficulties, the board of management of the school referred to by the Deputy has been formally notified of the Department's approval of grant aid towards the rental of temporary accommodation at the school. The application for improved permanent accommodation has been has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria....
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: The new school building referred to by the Deputy was listed to proceed to tender and construction as part of the 2004 school building programme. The design work on the project has been completed, however, progress on the next stages, tendering/construction work, must await resolution of legal issues regarding the site. The site for the school is being acquired by my Department under the...
- Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: Tenders have recently been sought for the design and construction of new accommodation for the decentralisation of over 100 of my Department's staff to Athlone. While it is difficult at this early stage to give an exact timetable for the completion of construction, it is estimated that the new buildings should be ready for occupation before the end of 2007.
- Written Answers — Third Level Funding: Third Level Funding (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: : Due to the varied costs associated with undergraduate courses in the university sector, the Department does not have an overall unit cost per student. However, the estimated average recurrent cost to the State for the more common undergraduate courses of arts, business, science and engineering is â¬7,000 per student per year. As there are higher costs associated with some courses, the unit...
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: The school referred to by the Deputy has an application with the Department for an extension. The project has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria. It will be considered in the context of the school buildings and modernisation programme 2005-09. It is not my intention to meet with a deputation from the school as it would not serve any useful purpose at this time.
- Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: In appointing persons to the boards under my aegis, I follow the guidelines set out in the Cabinet handbook regarding eligibility, transparency and gender balance. The information which the Deputy sought is as follows. Current Vacancies on Governing Bodies of Institutes of Technology. Institute Number of Vacancies Reason for vacancies When vacancies will be filled Blanchardstown 1...
- Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: In appointing persons to the boards under my aegis I follow the guidelines set out in the Cabinet handbook regarding eligibility, transparency and gender balance. The information which the Deputy sought is as follows. Expected Board Vacancies in the period 30 June 2005 â 31 December 2005 â Institutes of Technology and TRBDI. Institute Vacancies 30 June 2005 to 31 December 2005...
- Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (30 Jun 2005)
Mary Hanafin: A new scheme for allocating resource teachers to schools to cater for the needs of children with high incidence special needs and learning support needs was announced last month. The reason for the new scheme is simple. Children with special needs such as dyslexia or mild learning difficulties are found in almost every school. It makes sense then that every school should have a number of...
- Order of Business. (1 Jul 2005)
Mary Hanafin: There are 660 extra resource teachers.
- Written Answers — Inquiry into Child Abuse: Inquiry into Child Abuse (28 Sep 2005)
Mary Hanafin: The Residential Institutions Redress Board is an independent body set up under statute in 2002 to provide a mechanism for persons who were victims of child abuse while in residential institutional care to obtain financial compensation for the injuries they have suffered. The scheme applies to institutions for children which are specified in the Schedule to the Residential Institutions Redress...
- Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (28 Sep 2005)
Mary Hanafin: For the purposes of the post-primary transport scheme, the country is divided into catchment areas, each of which has its own post-primary centre. The scheme is designed to ensure that pupils who live more than a certain distance from the school in whose catchment area they reside, called eligible pupils, can avail of transport to that school. Such eligible pupils are collected at various...