Results 7,461-7,480 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn
- Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: An application under my Department's Emergency Works Scheme for repairs to spalling concrete has been received from the schools referred to by the Deputy. The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme is solely for unforeseen emergencies or to provide funding to facilitate inclusion and access for special needs pupils. An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to...
- Written Answers — Teacher Training: Teacher Training (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: Anecdotal evidence indicates that there is an oversupply of teachers currently and that there are newly qualified teachers not yet holding teaching positions in schools. The level of student intake to the state-funded Colleges of Education is determined annually by my Department and it takes account of the supply of, and demand for, primary teachers. The level of intake to these Colleges has...
- Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: A list of the primary and post primary schools in County Dublin that have rented temporary accommodation is included for the Deputy's attention. My Department does not hold such information in the sub-county format as requested. The Deputy may wish to note that in cases where schools have been approved for additional accommodation, schools have the option of building permanent classrooms or...
- Written Answers — Bullying in Schools: Bullying in Schools (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 157 and 162 together. Under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, all schools are required to have in place a Code of Behaviour and this code must be drawn up in accordance with the guidelines of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB). The NEWB guidelines were issued to schools in 2008 and make it clear that each school must have policies to prevent or...
- Written Answers — Mental Health Services: Mental Health Services (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 158 and 159 together. The Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme is a mandatory part of the curriculum in primary schools and in junior cycle since 2003 and is designed to promote positive mental health. It is supported by comprehensive teacher guidelines and curriculum support services which provide training and advice for schools and a...
- Written Answers — Mental Health Services: Mental Health Services (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 160 and 161 together. Student teachers in the Primary Colleges of Education are supported across a range of courses to identify children who are at risk from a variety of causes, including those that would contribute to issues around mental health. These courses include Psychology, Sociology, Social Personal and Health Education and aspects of Teaching...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 163 and 164 together. Details of the costs associated with the printing, posting and administration of payslips to primary and post-primary teachers are set out in tabular format below. Printing Costs for the Primary and Post Primary Payslips Primary 2010 â¬40,758.00 Primary 2011 to date â¬36,474.00 Post Primary 2010 â¬36,474.00 Post Primary 2011 to...
- Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 165 and 166 together. In arriving at my decision in relation to the location of headquarters of the merged VECs, I considered a range of factors including the need to ensure that the location of a VEC headquarters will, to the greatest extent possible, facilitate staff redeployment under a redeployment scheme within the context of the Croke Park Agreement and...
- Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I have held meetings with educational book publishers, representatives of parents' organisations and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul regarding the cost of school textbooks. I also had a further meeting with the book publishers on 10 October 2011. The publishers present stated that they were committed to the code of practice where publishers undertook not to publish new or revised editions...
- Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: An application under my Department's Emergency Works Scheme for fencing has been received from the school referred to by the Deputy. The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme is solely for unforeseen emergencies or to provide funding to facilitate inclusion and access for special needs pupils. An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or...
- Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 170 to 173, inclusive, together. Significant support is given to schools by way of language support provision. The level of extra teaching support provided in respect of language support to any school is determined by the numbers of eligible pupils enrolled and the associated assessed levels of those pupils' language proficiency. There are currently circa 840...
- Written Answers — School Placement: School Placement (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: Catchment boundaries have their origins in the establishment of free post-primary education in the late 1960s and were determined following consultation with local educational interests. For planning purposes the country was divided into geographic districts each with several primary schools feeding into a post-primary centre with one or more post-primary schools. The intention was and...
- Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: The processing of student grants is carried out by local grant awarding authorities, the VECs and local authorities. In the circumstances, the student in question should contact his grant awarding authority to ascertain the position with his application. The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the details that would be contained in a student grant application form, it would...
- Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: My officials have recently concluded an agreement with SIPTU, the trade unions representing the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of VECS, on a redeployment scheme for CEOs in the context of the Croke Park agreement. This scheme will be used, in the first instance, for determining the appointment of CEOs to the new VEC bodies, following the enactment of the relevant legislation. The agreed...
- Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: In arriving at my decision in relation to the location of headquarters of the merged VECs, I considered a range of factors including the need to ensure that the location of a VEC headquarters will, to the greatest extent possible, facilitate staff redeployment under a redeployment scheme within the context of the Croke Park Agreement and the need to operate at lowest cost having regard to the...
- Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (18 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: Based on current rates as per Department of Finance guidelines, the Chairperson of FÃS is eligible for a payment of â¬20,520 per annum while eight ordinary members are eligible for payments of â¬11,970; the Chairperson of the Grangegorman Development Agency is eligible for a payment of â¬8,978 per annum; the Chairperson of the Higher Education Authority is eligible for a payment of...
- Written Answers — Information and Communications Technology: Information and Communications Technology (19 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: In relation to primary and post-primary schools, my Department pursues the integration of ICT into teaching and learning and the development of pupils' digital literacy through the ICT in Schools Programme. This Programme focuses on four key areas: - The provision of essential ICT infrastructure within schools (including in particular an investment of â¬92m over 2009 and 2010) - The...
- Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (19 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: The school to which the Deputy refers was sanctioned funding in November 2010 on a devolved basis to provide a 1 classroom Special Needs/Autistic Spectrum Disorder Unit. A once-off set up grant for this Unit was also approved. The school authorities advised my Department in April 2011 that it expected the project to be completed within approximately six months of the project's commencement in...
- Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (19 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: There are no plans at present to include Irish sign language as a specific subject within the national curriculum in primary and post-primary schools in the Junior Certificate, or established Leaving Certificate programmes. Irish Sign Language is one of the optional modules available within the Leaving Certificate Applied programme, and schools also have the flexibility to provide this as an...
- Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (19 Oct 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) declared the following savings and excesses to my Department since 2008. Financial Year 2008 Pay Allocation: saving of â¬2,482,000 Non-pay Allocation: saving of â¬134,000 Financial Year 2009 Pay Allocation: saving of â¬1,724,000 Non-pay Allocation: no savings or excess Financial Year 2010 Pay Allocation: saving of â¬1,068,000...