Results 3,541-3,560 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (6 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The latest Higher Education Authority review of participation rates in higher education relates to 2003. This indicates that, nationally, participation rates in higher education as a percentage of 17 to 19 year olds stood at 54%. This was up from 44% in 1998. The report showed that higher education participation rates in the south-east region in 2003 were above the national average. The rates...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (6 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Details of recurrent funding and capital investment paid in respect of third level infrastructure for each university and institute of technology are provided in the following tables for the period 1997 up to and including payments to date in 2005. In addition to the capital investment paid to individual institutions, an amount of €136,240,088 has been paid to the HEA under the programme...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (6 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport service on behalf of my Department, has been asked to provide a report on the case referred to by the Deputy. When the report is received and considered, my Department will advise the Deputy of the position.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (6 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The representatives of the National Educational Welfare Board and the National Council for Special Education are liaising with the parents of the children in question to ensure that appropriate educational provision is made available for the children.

Written Answers — Inquiry into Child Abuse: Inquiry into Child Abuse (6 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Department of Education and Science was not responsible for placing people in this home and therefore had no regulatory function to exercise at the home.

Written Answers — Inquiry into Child Abuse: Inquiry into Child Abuse (6 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 provides a statutory scheme of financial redress for persons who, as children, were abused while in residential institutional care for which the State had a regulatory or supervisory responsibility. The scheme applies in respect of institutions specified in the Schedule to the Act. Section 4 of the Act provides that the Minister for Education and...

Schools Evaluation. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, I am determined to provide more information, for parents in particular, about our schools in a way that ensures a fair and comprehensive picture of all the different activities in a school. As I said on many occasions, I am strongly opposed to the publication of crude league tables based solely on examination or test results. Such tables provide an unbalanced and...

Schools Evaluation. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Whole school evaluation and subject inspection reports will be published. A significant number of subject inspection reports take place each year whereby all the teachers are inspected. These reports will be published, as will thematic inspection reports on, for example, Gaeilge, English and mathematics in the primary curriculum. The chief inspector's report referred to these topics this...

Schools Evaluation. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: One of the central parts of the whole school evaluation of second level schools is the involvement of students, who will meet inspectors and fully participate in the process. This reinforces the fact it is a whole school evaluation because it involves everybody. I look forward to the valuable process that will commence in January.

Garda Vetting Procedures. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Ensuring the protection, health and welfare of children is a key concern for the Government, for parents, for agencies that work with children and for society generally and I assure the Deputy that the Government is determined to do all that we can to keep our children and vulnerable adults safe. In improving our child protection procedures, the Government has focused on extending the...

Garda Vetting Procedures. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The difference between the two working groups was that the first set out recommendations, and the second is deciding how to implement them. It is very much an action group, being chaired by the Garda Síochána, and has representatives of the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Education and Science and Finance, as well as the Office of the Attorney General and the chief...

Garda Vetting Procedures. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Our aim is to establish a register that will cover both jurisdictions. Progress can be made in this regard when the Northern Ireland system is back on track and a full working relationship between authorities on both parts of the island is restored. In the meantime, the vetting unit will be doubled in size and will be capable of vetting increased numbers.

Garda Vetting Procedures. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: One hopes it cannot recur but we are dealing with a situation involving a number of bus companies, private contractors and large numbers of individual drivers. The important issue is that Bus Éireann will, on our behalf, ensure the correct procedures are put in place. Where issues have come to light, the company has dealt with them efficiently. I did not mean to imply that the system in...

Third Level Fees. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has approved the drafting of the institutes of technology Bill to transfer responsibility for the day-to-day management of the institutes of technology sector from my Department to a reconstituted Higher Education Authority. This will facilitate the gradual devolution to the institutes of technology of greater academic and managerial autonomy. This...

Third Level Fees. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The intention is to publish the legislation during this session so I hope it will be enacted next year. I also hope to do the transfer next year so the institutes of technology come under the HEA. The period of office of most of the membership of that board will expire at the end of this month, but under the new legislation it will have to be reformed. It is my intention to ensure that the...

School Attendance. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: There is no up-to-date research on the number of children who do not transfer from primary to post-primary education on an annual basis. My Department is currently planning the development of a primary pupils database, which will facilitate the collation of much more accurate and comprehensive data on transfer rates in the future. Together with the current post-primary pupil database, this...

School Attendance. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: While I am reluctant to give a timescale for completion of the database, it is a priority for the Department, not only because of the valuable information but also because it will substantially reduce the workload for school principals. We are keeping the matter under constant review. We have no evidence to show that the numbers transferring from first to second level has increased as the...

School Attendance. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy mentioned the very real issue of children dropping out after first year. The Economic and Social Research Institute analysed the experiences of first year students in post-primary education in 2004 and highlighted the children at risk. Arising from this analysis we are targeting particular effective transfer programmes. This year I allocated an additional 100 guidance counsellors...

School Attendance. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Implementation of the DEIS report which I launched, arising from a survey carried out for the Department, will probably begin in December. We recognise there are disadvantaged schools now that were not previously recognised as such. New schools not included in previous programmes have developed in various areas, so they must be included. That investment will involve an extra €40 million...

School Attendance. (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: All schools have responded to the survey which is being independently assessed by the Educational Research Centre. That standardised system will then identify the level of disadvantage. It will draw together a new integrated school support programme building on all the existing supports across the sector. As a result of that identification about 600 primary schools — 300 urban and 300 rural...