Results 9,681-9,700 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Teachers' Remuneration (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, the review of allowances in the public service which is ongoing at the moment is being conducted by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and I understand that the Minister intends to bring proposals to Government shortly. The Government has reaffirmed the key commitments under the public service agreement, including that there will be no further...

Teachers' Remuneration (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I confirm everything I said at the teachers' conferences. It is clearly on the public record and I refer to it again here in the House. The Deputy is absolutely right. If an allowance is part of a payment and the allowance is reckonable for pensionable purposes, any reasonable person will conclude that it is part of one's pay and conditions. These matters are still ongoing. On the second...

Teachers' Remuneration (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I share the Deputy's view. Modern technology has aided and supported continuing professional development through online course provision in many professions, but it must be seen as an additional resource to face to face contact and the interaction provided by teaching centres. I will bear in mind what the Deputy has said because I recognise the necessity, as does the profession, for...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A key priority for my Department is to prioritise and target resources in schools with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage. That challenge is significant, given the current economic climate and the target to reduce public expenditure. This limits the capacity for any additionality in the DEIS programme. In this context, I have no immediate plans to undertake the type...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I said I would review the decision, not reverse it.

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: No.

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Some of them will.

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The removal of legacy posts was intended to deal with cases in which there were two DEIS schools in a particular area or half a dozen DEIS schools in a particular area of disadvantage where it was possible to have two schools in the same socioeconomic grouping and locality, typically in the Deputy's constituency or the inner city part of my constituency, and one school would have more...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I understand and share the Deputy's concerns about DEIS schools, but he is probably aware - as I am - that 60% of young people coming from disadvantaged homes are not being schooled in DEIS schools. There is not a ghettoisation or concentration of disadvantage in DEIS schools, although it is self-evident that there are large concentrations of disadvantage in such schools. However, that is...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A total of 140 band 1 and band 2 schools will retain the number of legacy posts required by them to implement more favourable pupil-teacher ratios under previous disadvantage schemes for the 2012-13 school year. A range of factors contribute to determining the staffing requirement for schools, including changes to enrolment and the reforms to the teacher allocation process for 2012-13 school...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Deputy Smith referred to a number of individual schools. I do not have the information here and he will appreciate that.

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: He may wish to write to me or raise them separately. All I want to say is, we have limited resources. There is no political interference by me in the allocation of resources or individual teachers, and that is the way it should be. I think every Member in this House would accept that persons should get it on the basis of need relative to the available resources. In some cases, there may...

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is responsible for allocating special needs assistants to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of special education supports and the staffing resources available to my Department. All schools, including these schools, were advised to apply...

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have asked the NCSE to develop proposals to review the operation of the EPSEN Act 2004, particularly in the area of appeals. The programme for Government refers to the EPSEN Act 2004 but I am constrained in commissioning all of the provisions of that Act because of the current position on resources.

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As Deputy Wallace may be aware, during my visit to Wexford town for the TUI conference, I had the opportunity to meet two of the parents. I spoke to them briefly and stated that I would keep the position of special needs assistants and the operation of the NCSE under review.

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The number of posts available in this school year under the special needs assistant, SNA, scheme is capped at 10,575 under the employment control framework, as set out in the programme for national recovery and signed up to under the memorandum of understanding with the troika. In September 2011 the NCSE allocated 10,100 posts to schools while retaining 475 posts to cover late and emergency...

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Yes.

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy is basically correct. We have the employment control framework figure of 10,575 and this was communicated to the NCSE. Last year, its SENOs communicated to all the schools that 10% was being retained in order to deal with late applications and emergency cases. Unfortunately, the communication was not properly or clearly understood and, in some cases, understandably - I am not...

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I do not have the information on that question. Obviously, given population growth at primary and secondary level and the pupil-teacher ratio as numbers increase - we are expecting an increase of 70,000 between primary and secondary over the coming years - mainstream regular teachers will automatically be applied in addition to what is in place. At this point, I do not have the precise...

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I do not have the factual information the Deputy is seeking. It would be better to put down questions for written reply. With regard to Deputy Wallace's question, to the best of my knowledge, the appeals process has not been abolished, although it may be under review as to how it should operate. I will come back to the Deputy on that as I do not have the information to hand.