Results 7,521-7,540 of 8,873 for speaker:Batt O'Keeffe

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The project to which the Deputy refers is currently out to tender. It is anticipated that the project will be back on site before Easter.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (19 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I am aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has set up a Group to look at educational provision for children with emotional/behavioural disorders. I have arranged for the details supplied to be forwarded to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply in relation to the specific information sought by the Deputy.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (19 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Deputy will be aware that the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, 2004 provides for the establishment of the Special Education Appeals Board (SEAB), to hear and determine appeals under the Act. Board members are currently working to ensure that appropriate structures and processes will be in place once the relevant sections of the Act, which would allow...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (19 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) was established to co-ordinate the delivery of services for children with special educational needs. The NCSE is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers, for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support children with special needs. The NCSE...

Written Answers — Departmental Websites: Departmental Websites (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: My Department has one website. The annual cost of maintaining the website is approximately €21,000. This figure includes a contribution of €6,929 to the Local Government Computer Services Board (LGCSB) for hosting the website. In 2009 the website attracted 568,429 unique visitors.

Written Answers — Schools Building Programme: Schools Building Programme (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The proposed allocation for the primary and post primary school building programme for 2010 is €578.8 million. Details providing an overview of the 2009 schools building programme, including the information requested by the Deputy, along with a listing of all projects currently in architectural planning are available on my Departments web-site. Copies of the relevant tables are as follows....

Written Answers — Summer Works Scheme: Summer Works Scheme (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I can confirm that an application under the Summer Works Scheme 2010 has been received from the School to which the Deputy refers. Following an assessment process, projects will be selected for funding from all valid and approved applications on a top down basis in accordance with the prioritisation criteria published with the Scheme. The timetable for the Summer Works Scheme 2010 has been...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The total numbers of students in receipt of Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) allowances for 1996, 2007 and 2008 is attached. It is not possible to indicate how many of these were grant-holders, although only "dispersed" VTOS students are eligible to apply for a maintenance grant - the majority "core" VTOS students are not. Students currently in receipt of the BTEA or VTOS...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: It was decided to discontinue the practice of allowing students to hold both the Back to Education Allowance and a student maintenance grant simultaneously as this represents a duplication of income support payments. The Deputy will appreciate that many categories of applicants apply for funding under the maintenance grant schemes. My Department does not collate information specifically on...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Higher Education Authority has provisionally indicated a 6% increase in new entrants to third level education between the academic year 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. Information from the Central Applications Office also confirms that attendance in third level education is being maintained and has, in fact, increased. In 2008, the number of applications was 68,809 while the number in 2009 was...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: As the Deputy will be aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. The school in...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Grangegorman Development Agency Act 2005 provides for a total membership of 15 in the agency including the chairperson and chief executive officer. I appointed the new board of the agency in late 2009. There is no specific provision for a student or staff representative from the Dublin Institute of Technology on the agency. The legislation does provide that two ordinary members of the...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: As the Deputy may be aware the position is that in the context of budgetary discussions regarding overall funding and proposals for fee changes at a sectoral level, third level institutions are autonomous bodies and may determine the level of fees to be charged in cases where the free fees schemes do not apply. As such, post-graduate level fees are set by individual higher education...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: As the Deputy may be aware, the summer works scheme was deferred in 2008. Under the summer works scheme 2009, 52 schools in County Galway were allocated funding, 34 were primary and 18 were post primary schools. There were no Galway schools that declined the offer of SWS funding in 2009. A list of successful projects in Galway follows. The list contains the final grant amount where the...

Written Answers — School Textbooks: School Textbooks (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: Apart from a small number of prescribed texts at second-level, mainly in the case of language subjects, decisions on which textbooks to use in first and second-level schools are taken at school level, and I have no plans to regulate this area. Syllabus planners are conscious of the need to avoid over-frequent changes to textbooks, primarily in order to minimise increases in the cost burden...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The average annual rental cost for a standard 80m2 temporary primary school classroom unit for 2007-08 school year was €15,428. The average cost for the same unit in 2008-09 was €15,125, a reduction of almost 2%. The cost per unit varies significantly depending on the location, size, type and age of each unit. Another factor which needs to be considered is that in 2907-08 the VAT rate...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I have repeatedly stated my, and the Government's, commitment to supporting Protestant education while at the same time ensuring that funding arrangements for schools under Protestant management are in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Indeed, it is in order to deal with the concerns expressed by some members of the Protestant community of the effect of changes to certain...

Written Answers — School Services Staff: School Services Staff (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that my Department has obtained the sanction of the Minister for Finance for an exemption from the staffing moratorium in respect of the caretaker post to which he refers. Accordingly, my Department has given the chief executive officer of Co. Kildare VEC approval to fill the post from 1 January 2010.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The project to which the Deputy refers was included in my announcement last year of 43 projects to proceed to tender and construction and is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning. My Department received the stage 2b submission for this project from the design team in late November. An official from my Department met with a representative of the design team in mid-December...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (20 Jan 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I met with representatives of the school authority late last year to discuss the proposal to which the Deputy refers. Further details on the proposal were subsequently submitted to my Department and these are now under consideration. My Department will be in contact with the school authority when a decision has been reached in this matter.