Results 8,121-8,140 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Cork County VEC has identified a suitable site for the new school in question. My Department has authorised the VEC to negotiate, subject (inter alia) to Contract and value for money considerations, with the vendor for the acquisition of the site. When the site purchase is complete the building project will be considered in the context of my Department's School Building and Modernisation...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: An application for capital funding towards the provision of an extension has been assessed and the long term projected staffing, on which the accommodation needs will be based, has recently been determined and notified to the school authority. In order to determine how best to provide for the school's accommodation needs into the future, it will be necessary to have a technical assessment of...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The long term accommodation needs of the school referred to by the Deputy has been determined as 12 mainstream classrooms plus appropriate ancillary accommodation and the school authority have been notified of same. The building project required to deliver the school accommodation is being considered in the context of the School Building and Modernisation Programme 2006-2010.

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The staffing in the school referred to by the Deputy for the 2006/2007 school year is as follows: 1 Principal Post, 7 Mainstream Class Teacher Posts, 1 Permanent Developing School Post, 3 Permanent Learning Support/Resource Post, 1 Temporary Language Support Post. My Department recently received the September Salary Return form from the Board of Management of the School. This form indicated...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department's support package for the July Education Programme is available to all special schools and mainstream primary schools with special classes catering for children with autism who choose to extend their education services through the month of July. The Department also provides for a July Programme for pupils with a severe/profound general learning disability. The package includes...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: According to my Department's records, there are 27,823 teachers employed in primary schools currently. There are 25,448 primary teachers employed on a permanent basis and 110 temporary teachers employed at primary level in a designated special class or unit. The staffing of a primary school for a particular school year is determined by reference to the enrolment of the school on the 30th...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 554 to 556, inclusive, together. I wish to advise the Deputy that the number of special educational needs organisers (SENOs) that may be employed by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is subject to the consent of the Minister for Education and Science and the Minister for Finance under Section 25(1) of the Education for Persons with Special...

Written Answers — Third Level Grants: Third Level Grants (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Under the terms of Higher Education Grants Scheme administered by the Local Authorities on behalf of my Department, the position is that, generally speaking, students who are entering approved courses for the first time are eligible for grants where they satisfy the relevant conditions as to age, residence, means, nationality and previous academic attainment. The candidate's reckonable income...

Written Answers — Third Level Grants: Third Level Grants (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The decision on eligibility for third level grants and the issue of grant awards is a matter for the relevant local authority or VEC. These bodies do not refer individual applications to my Department except in exceptional cases where, for example, advice or instruction regarding a particular clause in the relevant scheme is desired. My Department contacted Kildare VEC, the awarding body in...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (17 Oct 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 March 2005 to the management authority of the school in question to extend and refurbish their school. This was the rate of grant applicable to a four teacher school in 2005. The rate applicable to a four teacher school in 2004 was €350,000. My Department is in...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Improving students' competences in spoken and written Irish is a major policy priority of my Department and a range of measures have been taken in this regard, with plans for further actions to take effect in the near future. The role of the Chomhairle is to provide policy advice, undertake research, provide support services, and plan and co-ordinate the provision of textbooks and teaching...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (17 Oct 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 — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The capital funding at primary level for 2006 is €277 million and this is being used to fund a record school building programme which includes the delivery on a devolved basis of circa. 740 projects in primary schools throughout the country. Expenditure to date is over €172m which is significantly ahead of profiled expenditure.

Written Answers — School Completion Programme: School Completion Programme (17 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: It is not possible to identify and account for all pupils leaving primary schools and not transferring to another school due to the lack of an individual Primary Pupil Database. My Department is currently planning the development of such a Database, which will facilitate the collation of much more accurate and comprehensive data on transfer rates in the future. Together with the current...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (18 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I can confirm to the Deputy that the Department is in receipt of an application for both the Summer Works Scheme 2007 and the Small Schools Scheme 2007 from the management authority of the school to which the Deputy refers. As indicated in the circulars governing these schemes, it is intended to publish the list of successful applicants before the end of theyear.

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (18 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The funding arrangements made by my Department for second level schools reflect the sectoral division of our second level system. At the core of all arrangements is a reliance upon capitation as the principle determinant of funding. All schools submit a return of pupil enrolments based on the number attending as at 30th September each year and capitation payments are based on this....

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (18 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy will be aware of my commitment to ensuring that all children, including those with autism, receive an education appropriate to their needs, preferably through the primary and post primary school network. My Department supports an eclectic approach to the education of children with autism where a range of teaching methods can be applied specific to the needs of individual pupils....

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (18 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 279 and 280 together. The Department is aware that the population of County Louth continues to increase and this is causing some strain on existing educational infrastructure. However, it has undertaken a number of significant measures to address the current and future need for pupil places in the area at primary and post primary level. At primary level...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (18 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 281 and 282 together. The latest report of the Decentralisation Implementation Group, which was published earlier this month, gives indicative construction completion dates of the second quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 for Athlone and Mullingar respectively. No decisions have been made regarding advance parties of volunteers to either Mullingar...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (18 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Staff in my Department who do not wish to decentralise to Athlone or Mullingar have the option of either applying under the Central Applications Facility to decentralise to another Department or Office or to apply under the Dublin Arrangements to transfer to a vacancy in a Department or Office remaining in Dublin. In 2005, my Department's Decentralisation Committee had a series of meetings...