Results 9,521-9,540 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: He also announced that he is going to review An Bord Pleanála on the basis that it has not been reviewed since it was established. With regard to the five-year plan, as the Deputy knows, that comes to an end at the end of next year and I have already started to look at how we might move towards the next five-year plan. I intend to work on that early next year in particular so we are...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: With regard to the longer-term plan, one issue is changes of government. In the past, new governments of whatever hue came in when previous governments had promised things but not provided funding. We do not want to go back to those days. Whatever plans are in place, we want to make sure funding is in place to go with them. With regard to the sites, I will meet the Minister of State,...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I want to see what can be done. New legislation in the area is promised and we all agree that we want to see it on the Statute Book as soon as possible.

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: A significant number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, EPSEN, have been commenced, principally those establishing the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and those promoting an inclusive approach to the education of children with special educational needs. In light of the very difficult economic situation and the significant costs involved...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The policy direction is moving towards the full implementation of the Act but finance is an issue. We had a tight financial situation and the National Council for Special Education suggested an additional investment over a period of years, up to €235 million per year across the education and health sectors, would be required to implement the Act. My Department believes the sum is a...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Thankfully, the economy is recovering and we are in a position to have more money to spend on these areas. I am in favour of ensuring we focus on social, as well as economic, recovery. With regard to parental involvement, schools are encouraged to use individual education plans. In that context, discussion with parents should be part of it. The information we have is that more schools use...

Other Questions: Site Acquisitions (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Officials in my Department have been in contact with officials from Donegal education and training board, ETB, about identifying and securing a suitable site in the Buncrana area for a campus development. A number of potential sites were previously considered over the past number of years but were deemed unsuitable for various reasons. The Deputy is more aware of the reasons than I. A...

Other Questions: Site Acquisitions (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As I said to Deputy O'Brien, engagement with the local authority usually takes place in terms of identifying sites and local knowledge can often be helpful in that regard. The ETB would also have local knowledge. According to my note, given the complexities involved it is not possible to provide a definite timeframe for the completion of the acquisition. My officials will endeavour to...

Other Questions: Site Acquisitions (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will inquire about the architect's report from the visit in May. I am not aware of what has happened with the report, but I will revert to the Deputy.

Other Questions: School Staffing (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The staffing in the school referred to by the Deputy has reduced from 22 teachers to 20 teachers. This was due to a reduction in the overall enrolments in the school and a reduction in the number of eligible pupils in the school for English language support. A teacher in the school who had an assistant principal allowance retired. While this teacher was replaced for the purposes of...

Other Questions: School Staffing (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: We are not gutting education. In fact, we have managed, despite the growing demographics, to maintain pupil-teacher ratios. I have discussed the general issue of the loss of these posts with a number of education partners. It is a concern which we want to address. I appreciate that the school to which the Deputy refers is in a very disadvantaged area and is DEIS band 1, but it has a...

Other Questions: School Staffing (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I absolutely reject what the Deputy just said about Labour Party policy. She knows we restored the minimum wage as soon as we got into government. She knows we are working on the REA legislation and we believe in decent wages for work. That is Labour Party policy. We have also had to live in a very real and difficult world for the past few years. The Deputy is lucky as she does not have...

Other Questions: School Staffing (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: We will address the issues as quickly as we can.

Other Questions: School Staffing (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am not standing over anything the Deputy is alleging.

Other Questions: School Staffing (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: We are undertaking a DEIS review. It has not been reviewed since 2006. The evidence would suggest DEIS is working well in terms of the outcomes for children in those schools. However, certain schools are in while others are not. It is time for a review, given that DEIS has been in place since 2006. We will carry out that review during the next year.

Other Questions: School Curriculum (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Since entering office, I have met parents, teacher, school management and student representatives to discuss junior cycle reform. At my invitation, the teacher unions have outlined to me their concerns about aspects of the proposed reforms. In doing so, the unions underlined teacher support for the reforms that will lead to better quality teaching and learning experiences and, thence,...

Other Questions: School Curriculum (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I met all of the partners. The other partners should have equal respect, those being, the parents, school management representatives and students, whose group I also met. As soon as I could following my appointment, I wrote to the unions and met the ASTI and TUI together on this issue. I have also met each of the unions separately on general issues. At our joint meeting, we agreed to meet...

Other Questions: School Curriculum (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: In making the decision to move forward, I must take the interests of all partners into account, not just the teachers'. It was my view that we needed to commence in September as intended because this has been planned for a long time. Regarding the rate of CPD uptake, we cannot force teachers, although the Deputy can correct me if I am wrong. Almost 90% of English teachers have attended...

Other Questions: Schools Review (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As I indicated earlier, I am reviewing the value for money report for small schools along with my Government colleagues. I intend to publish the report as soon as those considerations have been finalised.

Other Questions: Schools Review (8 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: First, I do wish to consider the report carefully. It is an issue of great concern to Members of this House and to people in many parts of the country. I have started to read it but I can tell the Deputy I have not yet finished reading it. As stated previously, I have also begun to discuss it with some of the partners in education and with some Government colleagues. While I intend to...