Results 6,721-6,740 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn
- Higher Education Grants (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy from Dublin South-West is articulating what the loss of economic sovereignty means. This is the point this country has reached and this is what the loss of control over our own cheque book actually means. The Government is constrained in these circumstances. I am determined to return to a point at which the Government has the economic freedom to make freely-determined decisions...
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 19 and 29 together. The Deputies will be aware that a number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act have been commenced. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, made recommendations which suggested additional investment over a period of years of up to â¬235 million per annum across the education and...
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I share the Deputy's concern and those expressed by a wide number of Deputies across the House. The advice to me in the Department is that there would be difficulties if we tried to introduce the legislation on an age-cohort basis. I intend to review the spirit of the legislation in these difficult times to see what provisions can be implemented, perhaps by different means. I am not...
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I understand the Deputy's point and heard him use the phrase "rights-based". One could exercise these rights if this was a sovereign republic in control of its own economy. There is only one crowd in the world who will lend us money at present and that is the European Central Bank.
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: It is the European Central Bank or the money-lenders. The House needs to understand the reality of where we are. We have lost our economic sovereignty. We cannot deliver on a rights-based approach because we do not have the money to do it. The money we would attempt to offer would be provided by the European Central Bank. The IMF is in this city. When Deputy Boyd Barrett was outside the...
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I will not get into the blame game because everybody knows how we got here. The debate has to be informed by reality. I support what Deputy Crowe is looking for and we may be able to look at it when we have regained our sovereignty but not before.
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: The reality, sad and all as it may be, is that we have to reduce current expenditure in the education sector in the forthcoming fiscal year. The thrust of my reply is that if we were to attempt to implement in full the balance of what is required under the EPSEN Act - instead of reducing expenditure by a certain amount, which will be tough when the issue is debated before Christmas - we...
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: That is a very fair request. We will explore ways by which we can implement the EPSEN Act.
- Voluntary Contributions (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: It is not my Department's policy to prohibit the practice of schools seeking contributions from parents as long as it is made absolutely clear that the contributions concerned are voluntary. The manner in which contributions are sought and collected is a matter for school management. However, their collection should be such as not to create a situation where either parents or pupils could...
- Voluntary Contributions (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Deputy for raising these matters in a supplementary question. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the National Parents Council and others have raised two issues with me. One is the frequent change of books on the curriculum and so-called revised editions where the amount of revision is minimal. I met the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the National Parents Council and...
- Voluntary Contributions (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I will respond first to what Deputy Boyd Barrett said. Within the primary school structure there are parents' representatives on the boards of management. Therefore, if any parents feel they have been unduly pressurised, I suggest their first port of call should be to the parents' representative. In the post-primary sector, depending on the school, parental representation is not as...
- School IT Systems (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: Each school is responsible for the development, management and maintenance of its IT systems and there is no requirement to notify difficulties to my Department. The Department recognises the need for the provision of technical support to schools but funding is not available due to the overall resource constraints being faced at this time. To help schools upgrade their ICT Infrastructure, my...
- School IT Systems (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: That is a very helpful suggestion which I will explore.
- School IT Systems (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: That suggestion is very much in the spirit of the reforms for the VEC sector that we have in mind.
- School IT Systems (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I note what the Deputy has said.
- Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: Traditionally redeployment at primary level has operated within schools of the same patronage. The Croke Park Agreement provides for the continued employment of surplus teachers through redeployment. This process in nearing completion, with very limited movement of teachers between schools of different patronage. I appreciate the goodwill that applied in making this happen and recognise...
- Written Answers — Third Level Staff Remuneration: Third Level Staff Remuneration (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: The number of staff earning more than â¬100,000 in universities and Dublin Institute of Technology includes the most senior levels of management whose salaries exceed â¬150,000, Academic Medical Consultants whose salaries exceed â¬200,000, and Professors who have salaries up to â¬145,952. These numbers also include some Associate Professors in universities and some Senior Lecturers in...
- Written Answers — Education Schemes: Education Schemes (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 38 together. The Deputy will be aware that my Department has published a Value for Money (VFM) and Policy Analysis review of the Special Needs Assistant scheme. This review is available on my Departments website: www.education.ie. The Review has shown that the SNA Scheme has been successful in supporting schools in meeting the needs of students with...
- Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 21 together. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is currently finalising its advice to me on the direction of junior cycle reform, in consultation with the partners in education. I have been kept informed of the Council's general progress, and I am aware that an advanced draft of proposals was discussed at a meeting of Council in June....
- Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: At this point I do not propose to give any specific commitment on the allocation of teachers to schools for the 2012/13 school year. The number of teaching posts that we can afford to fund in schools is a matter that I will have to consider with my colleagues in Cabinet in the context of the next budget and meeting our obligations under the EU/IMF Programme. The National Recovery Plan...