Results 7,341-7,360 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: All primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are available on my Department's website. Schools that do not currently have NEPS psychologists assigned to them may avail of the SCPA, whereby...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: All primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) that is administered by NEPS and full details of which are available on my Department's website. In common with many other psychological services, NEPS operates a...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Psychological assessments are required for a number of purposes. These assessments must accompany applications from schools to the National Council for Special Educational for special educational needs resources. My Department does not hold data on the number of psychological assessments completed by private practitioners and which have been paid for privately.

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) is currently finalising the assignment of four psychologists to this new service. The psychologists concerned will be assigned early in the new school year. As a consequence, four additional psychologists will be appointed to NEPS from the current panel established following the recruitment competition of 2005.

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The information sought in relation to the locations of staff in my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) is in the form of a tabular statement that I propose to circulate with the official report. Procurement arrangements for office space for government departments, including leases, rents and the costs of same are the responsibility of the Office of Public Works;...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The financial outturn for my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) for each year since its establishment was: 1999, €1.3million; 2000, €3.6million; 2001, €6.2million; 2002, €11.1million; 2003, €13.4million; 2004, €13.4million; 2005, €14.0million. The financial provision for 2006 for NEPS in my Department's Estimates is €15.425 million.

Written Answers — Educational Disadvantage: Educational Disadvantage (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 548, 549 and 561 together. The DEIS action plan is designed to ensure that schools serving the most disadvantaged communities benefit from the maximum level of support available. Over the years, no less than 8 separate schemes for disadvantaged primary schools have been put in place. Some schools were benefiting from just one or two of these and others were...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As part of the expansion of the devolved scheme for primary school building works, a grant of €440,000 was sanctioned in 2005 to enable the management authorities of the school in question to extend and refurbish their school. Devolving funding to school management authorities allows them to have control of their projects, assists in moving projects more quickly to tender and construction...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: An application for major capital funding has been received from the school authority to which the Deputy refers. On foot of an assessment of this application, it has been determined that the school requires to be developed into a 24 classroom facility with appropriate ancillary accommodation. This has been agreed with the school authority. The project has also been assessed in accordance with...

Written Answers — Early School Leavers: Early School Leavers (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The numbers leaving Primary School in the most recent three years for which complete data are available are provided in the following Data Table. The Deputy should note that it is not generally the policy of my Department to investigate the reasons for which any individual has left or changed school. Research by bodies such as the Economic and Social Research Institute has identified a wide...

Written Answers — Departmental Websites: Departmental Websites (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department's website has been available for approximately 4,221 hours or 98.8% since 1 January, 2006. This level of availability is above the industry average identified by a recent report by Keynote.com. Using a global network of reference sites that monitor Web sites using simulated user transactions the average downtime was 1.41%. In the last 178 days since 1 January, 2006 the website...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Pending the outcome of decisions of the independent Staffing Appeals Board, the clearance of the relevant diocesan redeployment panel and the finalisation of allocations in respect of special needs pupils, my Department is not in a position to indicate the number of additional primary teachers to be employed in Limerick with effect from September 2006.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Children who have been assessed as having special educational needs have access to a range of special support services. The services range from special schools dedicated to particular disability groups, through special classes or units attached to ordinary schools, to placement on an integrated basis in ordinary schools, with special back-up supports. The allocation of resources for children...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department. I can however confirm for the Deputy that under the prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects, the provision of specialist accommodation for children with special needs attracts a Band 1 rating. This is the highest rating possible which is indicative of my Department's commitment to ensuring...

Written Answers — Irish Language: Irish Language (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: There was no consultation process that involved individuals or organisations outside of my Department prior to my announcement of the Irish language support package at this year's INTO Easter conference.

Written Answers — Ionad Náisiúnta Oideachas Gaeilge: Ionad Náisiúnta Oideachas Gaeilge (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Officials from my Department met recently with interested parties in relation to Baile Bhúirne. Following consideration of the views expressed by the interested parties at that meeting, I expect to be in a position very shortly to make a final decision on the project. I recently announced a range of additional measures to promote enhanced quality in the teaching and learning of Irish. These...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for processing applications for special educational needs supports. My officials have been advised by the NCSE that special needs assistant support for the pupil in question has not been withdrawn. I understand that the local SENO will contact the school to clarify the position.

Written Answers — Educational Disadvantage: Educational Disadvantage (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the action plan for educational inclusion, provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP). The School Support Programme will bring together, and build upon, a number of existing interventions in schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage. The process of...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Equal Opportunities Employment: Equal Opportunities Employment (27 Jun 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Under the terms of the Social Partnership agreements, the Government has set a 3% employment target for people with disabilities in the civil and public service. This is not a restrictive target. Following the cessation of special competitions for the recruitment of persons with disabilities, due to the Equal Status Act 2000, it is very difficult for Departments to positively discriminate in...