Results 9,801-9,820 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 255 to 257, inclusive, and 274 together. Teacher allocations are approved annually in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. My Department has published the staffing arrangements at primary and post primary level for the coming school year, 2012/13. The relevant circulars, Primary 0007/2012 and Post Primary 0009/2012 are...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that 10,575 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts have been made available for allocation to schools by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) throughout the school year, subject to qualifying applications being received. This figure represents a modest increase in the number of SNA posts allocated in recent years from 9,824 in...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that the Five Year Plan prioritises new school building projects, including the new primary and post primary schools that I announced in June 2011, as well as major extensions in areas where a demographic need has been established. The Deputy will be aware of the demographic challenges that we are facing. Total enrolment in both primary and post-primary schools is...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports. SENOs also make recommendations to my Department where assistive technology is required. In order to qualify for equipment under the...

Written Answers — European Council Meetings: European Council Meetings (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Council formation in which I participate is the Education, Youth, Culture & Sport (EYCS) Council. Since 9th March 2011, three meetings of EU Ministers with responsibility for Education have been held under this this Council formation. I attended two of these Council meetings and my colleague Minister of State Ciaran Cannon attended one. The names of those that attended each of the three...

Written Answers — Higher Education Courses: Higher Education Courses (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Higher Education Authority (HEA) issued a call for proposals for courses to be run under Springboard 2012 on 20 February 2012. The call documentation is available on the HEA website: www.hea.ie. Proposals received by the closing date of 28 March are currently being evaluated. Details of the courses and number of places selected for funding will be available in May following completion of...

Written Answers — Higher Education Institutions: Higher Education Institutions (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The landscape documentation published by the HEA on 13th February includes guidelines for regional clusters and is available on www.hea.ie. The building of regional collaborative clusters of all our higher education institutions is key to the delivery of many of the most important objectives of the National Strategy including achieving a more coherent, higher quality education system that is...

Written Answers — School Placement: School Placement (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I assume that the Deputy is referring to the Transition Year (TY) programme. As the Deputy will be aware this is a one-year programme designed to act as a bridge between the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate programmes. It is available to all second level schools. The management authority of each school carries responsibility for making decisions regarding the Transition Year...

Written Answers — Schools Recognition: Schools Recognition (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 266 and 267 together. As the Deputy will be aware, provisional recognition was initially awarded to the school in question in 2008. This temporary recognition was subject to the usual rules and procedures applicable to new primary schools. Provisional recognition has been extended year on year since then. The provisional recognition period has been extended to...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested is currently being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy shortly.

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There will be a new income threshold to qualify for the €2,000 contribution towards the cost of postgraduate fees which will be lower than the standard grant threshold. This is currently being determined in the context of the formulation of the student grant scheme for the 2012/13 academic year.

Written Answers — Subsidised Private Schools: Subsidised Private Schools (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested by the Deputy will be forwarded directly to him.

Written Answers — Teachers' Remuneration: Teachers' Remuneration (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As a result of Budget 2012, Circular 70/2011 provides that teachers who had been engaged in a public sector teaching post on or before 4 December 2011 are eligible to retain the qualification allowances they were entitled to be in receipt of on that date. Such teachers will not be paid any additional allowance where they acquire any further qualification on or after 5 December 2011. The...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for the relevant grant awarding authority. The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the relevant details that would be contained in an individual's application form and supporting documentation, it would not be possible for me to say whether or not a student should qualify for a grant. To satisfy the terms and...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The major capital project referred to by the Deputy is listed in the recently announced Five Year Construction Programme to commence construction in 2015/16. The brief for the project will provide a new 16-classroom school and a two-classroom special needs unit on the existing site. The project is currently at an early stage of architectural planning and was approved to commence Stage 2a -...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm that the school referred to by the Deputy has an application with my Department for capital funding for a major school project. Information in respect of the current status of all assessed applications for major capital works, including this project, is available on the Department's website at www.education.ie. In view of the need to ensure that every child has access to a...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: One former school inspector is contracted as a consultant as the interim manager of three schools pending the amendment of the Vocational Education Act to enable patrons of these schools to establish Boards of Management. Another retired school inspector has been appointed to the board of directors of the Middletown Centre for Autism based at Armagh which is a body jointly funded by my...

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Residential Institutions Redress Board was established pursuant to the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 to provide fair and reasonable financial awards to victims of institutional childhood abuse. The Board operates independently and the application process is confidential in accordance with the terms of the 2002 Act. Therefore, I am not in a position to comment on any...

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The recently published Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill provides that those former residents who received financial awards from the Residential Institutions Redress Board or similar awards or settlements in court proceedings, will be eligible to apply for assistance from the Statutory Fund. While the Residential Institutions Redress Board is continuing to process its remaining...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (24 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested by the Deputy is outlined in the table. I welcome the participation by agencies under the aegis of my Department in these schemes. Agency Scheme Number of places available Take up of scheme to date Higher Education Authority (including the Research Council). Job Bridge 5 places offered (4 for graduates, 1 for non-graduate) 2 graduate places filled Higher...