Results 9,121-9,140 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Teachers' Remuneration: Teachers' Remuneration (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 140, 185, 186 and 197 together. A public service-wide review of allowances, announced by the Government as part of Budget 2012, is currently being led by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Under Circular 70/2011 teachers who had been engaged in a public sector teaching post on or before 4 December 2011 are eligible to retain the qualification...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 143,144, 190 and 200 together. Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Vocational Education Committees (VECs) are paid directly by the Committees which employ them. The pay costs of the VECs are funded primarily by the pay grant issued by my Department, but also by pay receipts retained by the VECs comprised principally of retained superannuation contributions. The...

Written Answers — Teachers' Remuneration: Teachers' Remuneration (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 147 to 150, inclusive, together. The salary scales for Special Needs Assistants appointed prior to 1/1/2011 and since 1/1/2011 and the salary scales for Primary teachers appointed since 1/1/2011 are set out in a table. Salary scales are published on my Department's website. SNAs irrespective of their appointment date and teachers appointed since the 1st...

Written Answers — Third Level Fees: Third Level Fees (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A limited number of post graduate students who would previously have qualified under the standard grant thresholds will qualify to have a €2,000 contribution made towards the costs of their fees. There will be a new income threshold for this payment which will be lower than the standard grant threshold. The income threshold for this level of grant is currently being determined in the...

Written Answers — Third Level Fees: Third Level Fees (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) was previously known as a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) was placed on the framework of qualifications at Level 8 with effect from the start of the academic year 2011/12. The course is considered to be a post graduate course for the purposes of the Student Grant Scheme. Under the terms of the Free Fees Initiative, whereby the State meets...

Written Answers — Third Level Staffing: Third Level Staffing (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As autonomous statutory bodies it is a matter for each Higher Education Institution to manage its staffing resources and retirements as they arise. In contrast to other parts of the public service an Employment Control Framework is in place for the higher education sector which provides institutions with considerable flexibility to fill vacancies, through recruitment or promotions, subject to...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy is aware, total enrolment in both primary and post-primary schools is expected to grow by almost 70,000 between now and 2018 (over 45,000 at primary level and 25,000 at post primary) and will continue to grow up to at least 2024 at post-primary level. The priority now is to focus on major school projects and smaller projects devolved to schools to meet the demographic demands....

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The reforms to the teacher allocation process introduced for the 2012/13 school year revised the basis for appointment of Administrative Principal and Administrative Deputy Principal status in primary schools. The criteria for such status will be solely based on pupil numbers rather than the current approach of mostly on pupil numbers but some also on teacher numbers. The relevant enrolment...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: While a key priority for me is to continue to prioritise and target resources at schools with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage, the current economic climate and the challenge to meet significant targets on reducing public expenditure, particularly given the upward pressures on teacher numbers and in the context of operating under a fixed ceiling on teacher numbers,...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy is aware from my answer to Parliamentary Question No. 232 of 24th January, an application for redundancy from the person referred to, was received by my Department on 7th September 2011. A large number of applications were received during the period August - September 2011. Applications received during those months are currently being processed in date order of receipt. Every...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has recently carried out a technical assessment of a site for a new school building. My Department is liaising closely with the school authorities in the context of progressing this project to the next stage of the architectural planning process.

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 160, 174, 179, 181 and 183 together. My Department has expanded the existing appeals process so that it is accessible to the 73 small schools that are losing a classroom post as a result of the budget measure. It is worth noting that there are almost 1,200 small schools with 86 pupils or less and no small school will be forced to close as a result of this...

Written Answers — Schools Inspectorate: Schools Inspectorate (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Ten inspectors retired prior to the 29th, February 2012. In anticipation of this the Department entered into discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure & reform (PER) in order to highlight the staffing situation at the Schools Inspectorate Division in light of the large number of inspectors opting to retire early. These discussions culminated in an agreement being reached that key...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Extra resources were assigned to the Redundancy Unit at the end of October 2011 to ensure that Special Needs Assistants that have been made redundant would have their claims for payment processed as quickly as possible. The assignment of the staff has helped to reduce the period of the backlog significantly. A large volume of redundancy applications were received during the period July -...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: An application for redundancy from the person referred to by the Deputy was received by my Department on 21st September 2011. A large number of applications were received during the period July - September 2011. Applications received during those months are currently being processed. Applications are processed in date order of receipt with some priority given to those SNAs who have not...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department is responsible for the payment of ninety thousand serving and retired teachers, special needs assistants and certain clerical officers and caretakers on a fortnightly basis. The priority of the Department is to ensure that those personnel are paid correctly and on time each fortnight. Another priority is to process the redundancy applications for special needs assistants which...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A total of 1,101 redundancy applications in respect of Special Needs Assistants were received by my Department in the 12 months from January to December 2011. During that same period, 627 redundancy payments (totalling in excess of €4.9 million) were paid to Special Needs Assistants. 383 redundancy applications are currently being processed by the Redundancy Unit and payment in respect...

Written Answers — School Discipline: School Discipline (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 provides for an appeal by a parent or guardian to the Secretary General of my Department, or in the case of a Vocational Educational Committee (VEC) school to the VEC in the first instance, where a Board of Management of a school, or a person acting on behalf of the board, refuses to enrol a student in a school, expels a student or suspends a student for...

Written Answers — Career Guidance: Career Guidance (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department has just recently published Circular 0009/2012 to inform all post primary school management and staff of the staffing arrangements for post-primary schools for the 2012/13 school year, including in particular, the requirements to manage guidance from within the standard allocation. The circular is available on the Department website. Schools will have autonomy on how best to...

Written Answers — Third Level Institutions: Third Level Institutions (6 Mar 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As previously advised, the information requested by the Deputy is not readily available within my Department. I requested the HEA, at the time, to contact the seven universities with a view to obtaining as much information as is possible. This information, where available, has been forwarded to the Deputy. However, it should be noted that given differences between the various university...