Results 9,761-9,780 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Recruitment (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department and would involve an inordinate amount of administrative time to compile.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Minor Works Scheme Restoration (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department's capital allocation for 2015 was agreed last week on the occasion of the Budget. The task over the next number of months is to calculate the expenditure commitments arising on projects under construction and schemes/initiatives under delivery. Such commitments will have a first call on the 2015 capital allocation and thereafter consideration will be given to projects and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Library Projects (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that €10m will be made available next year for the library project to which he refers. This project is designed to meet requirements for additional library space and information services at University of Limerick. The UL library project is one of the three major capital projects in Irish universities which will benefit from the €20m of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The increase in my Department's 2015 current expenditure allocation detailed in Budget 2015 provided in large part for additional numbers of mainstream teachers, resource teachers, special needs assistants and capitation payments for schools. These additional costs amount to approximately €88 million. In the region of three-quarters of these costs are accounted for by increased...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the HEA institutions. The HEA allocates this funding to institutions to cover free fees, core grant and other specific earmarked initiatives. It is then a matter for each institution to determine how such funding is allocated internally. Students who qualify under my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy may be aware, the DEIS programme is the subject of ongoing evaluation by both the Educational Research Centre and my Department's Inspectorate who have produced a series of evaluation reports to date, (copies of which are available on my Department's website). I have also recently commissioned a further overall report in relation to DEIS to provide recommendations for a renewal...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Budget 2012 provided for the phased withdrawal of approximately 428 posts allocated to some schools under disadvantage programmes prior to the introduction of DEIS in 2005. These posts were in 173 DEIS Band 1 and Band 2 Schools, 163 post primary schools, 16 rural DEIS schools and 17 non DEIS schools. My Department produced a report on the impact of the withdrawal of these legacy posts...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under the DEIS Action Plan, the 150 urban primary schools serving communities with the highest concentrations of disadvantage have maximum class size of 20:1 in all junior classes and 24:1 in all senior classes. There are no plans to change this programme measure. As the Deputy may be aware, the DEIS programme is the subject of ongoing evaluation by both the Educational Research Centre...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early Start Programme (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department published a Focused Policy Assessment of the Early Start pre-school programme in June 2014. This report is available on my Department's website. The assessment indicates that the programme continues to serve the requirements of children who are in need of additional supports to develop to their full potential. The programme has particular benefits in fostering children's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home-School Liaison Scheme (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department liaises with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs on an ongoing basis to progress delivery policies relating to improved educational outcomes for all children and young people. My colleague the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has a statutory role in relation to attendance, participation and retention in schools and to the administration of the of the Home...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: DEIS is my Department's main policy initiative to address educational disadvantage and its aim is to ensure that the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities are prioritised and effectively addressed. As the Deputy may be aware, the DEIS programme is the subject of ongoing evaluation by both the Educational Research Centre and my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The staffing schedule at primary level operates on the basis of 1 classroom teacher for an average of every 28 pupils. More favourable ratios operate in DEIS schools. Teachers are allocated at post-primary level on the basis of 1 teacher for every 19 pupils (23 pupils in the case of fee-charging schools and 18.25 pupils for DEIS schools). The staffing arrangements for the 2015/16 school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Libraries (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: 30 DEIS schools currently have a demonstration library through the Junior Certificate School Programme (JCSP). While I have no plans to expand this particular scheme, it may be noted that all DEIS schools are free to use funds from their DEIS grant to meet identified educational needs within their pupil cohort, including library facilities.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Minor Works Scheme Restoration (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Circular Letter 0062/2013 which was published as the Minor Works Grant for the school year 2013/2014 issued last November states "the grant will only be paid in future years as funding permits". The focus under the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme 2012-2016 is on meeting the demand for additional school places. Consequently, there is no funding provided at this time in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Contractors (21 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: School building projects which are funded from public monies, are required to use the forms of contract provided under the Capital Works Management Framework which includes a suite of public works contracts, standard conditions of engagement, model forms, suitability assessment questionnaires and guidance notes published by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP). The OGP is an office...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I have already stated publicly that because of increasing demographics my Department requires additional resources to simply maintain existing levels of service. In my pre-budget discussions with the education partners I expressed the hope that continued improvement in the economy over a sustained period will take us to a position where we can make improvements in some areas. The Government's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school to which he refers has recently submitted an application for additional classroom accommodation. The application concerned is currently being assessed and a decision will be conveyed to the school authorities when this process has been finalised.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy will be aware, Department officials are currently working closely with South Dublin County Council in relation to securing a site for the provision of permanent school accommodation for the school to which he refers. Due to commercial sensitivities attaching to site acquisitions generally, I am not in a position to provide further details at this time. Once the site has been...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Correspondence (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can confirm that a reply has issued to the correspondence referred to by the Deputy.