Results 10,021-10,040 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Physical Education Facilities: Physical Education Facilities (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The specific information sought by the Deputy is not readily available. However, the Deputy can be assured that my Department fully recognises the key role of physical exercise within the school environment and continues to respond to the need to improve PE facilities for all pupils attending primary schools. PE facilities have been provided, where appropriate, as part of my Department's...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The management authority of the school to which the Deputy refers made an application in August 2000 for two additional classrooms, a General Purpose Room and appropriate ancillary accommodation for a five-classroom school. In 2002, the school accepted an all-in grant towards the cost of two permanent classrooms in lieu of prefabricated units. The management authority at that time decided to...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 472 and 473 together. A technical inspection of the schools referred to by the Deputy took place on Monday 5 March 2007. When the technical reports have been completed and examined, officials from School Planning Section will be in contact with the school authority to appraise them of the next steps involved in the amalgamation process.

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Special fees for repeat Leaving Certificate candidates were introduced in 1987 on the basis that it is not unreasonable to expect those who have already benefited from the normal course of second level education, and who wish to take an extra year, to make a contribution towards the cost of providing the necessary resources. A course fee is also payable in respect of such candidates....

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 475 and 476 together. Examination fees generally cover only a fraction of the cost of running the examinations. The costs associated with the certificate examinations have been spiralling in recent years due to the introduction of new methods of assessment in various subjects and to continuing increases in special arrangements for students with special needs....

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: An application for capital funding towards the provision of an extension has been received from the school referred to by the Deputy. The assessment of the long-term projected staffing, on which the schools accommodation needs are based is being finalised at present. Once the long-term projection has been determined and agreed with the school authorities the building project will be...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The details requested by the Deputy are not readily available by my Department, however funding of approximately €6m has been provided to schools under the Radon Remediation Programme to date. My Department commenced its Radon Remediation Programme in 1998 when it commissioned the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) to conduct a survey of radon levels in all primary and post...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that my Department has recently sanctioned home tuition for the pupil in question and a letter to this effect has issued to the family. The reason for the delay is that the clinical psychologist's report was only received in my Department in the last week.

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: As at 2nd March, 3,267 national schools had returned a complete set of enrolment forms and 1,249 of these had been processed and fully entered on the Database for Primary School enrolment. The process of inputting the data is continuing with a view to finalising it as soon as is possible.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I wish to advise the Deputy that the report to which she refers is an internal report prepared for my Department by the National Council for Special Education. This report was not intended for publication.

Written Answers — School Management: School Management (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I can confirm that I have recently received correspondence on this issue from the Board of Management of the school referred to by the Deputy and a response will issue shortly to the board from my Department. Primary schools' running costs have been traditionally met by my Department's scheme of capitation grants which are the main source of funding for the running costs of primary schools....

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: An application was received in the Department, under the Small Schools Scheme 2007, from the school referred to by the Deputy. On 5 March 2007, I announced details of the schools to receive funding under this Scheme. Due to the volume of applications received in the Department it was not possible to allocate funding to all proposed projects and the school referred to by the Deputy was not...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The application for capital funding towards the provision of an extension to the school referred to by the Deputy has been assessed and the long term projected staffing, on which accommodation needs will be based, has been determined and notified to the school authority. In order to determine how best to provide for the school's accommodation needs into the future, it will be necessary to...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: A site to facilitate the replacement of the school in question has been secured by the relevant managerial authorities. The registration of title to the site is currently in progress. Funding for the site was provided by my Department. The progression of the project will now be considered in the context of my Department's multiannual School Building and Modernisation Programme.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: This building project is an initiative lead by the school authorities which entails a local developer building a 16 classroom school on land owned by the developer at no cost to the school or the Department. The Department has not been involved in the design of the school nor has capital funding been provided in respect of the project. The Department has brought to the school authorities...

Written Answers — Third Level Institutions: Third Level Institutions (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I wish to inform the Deputy that in four of the third level institutions running the Higher Diploma in Education the title of the course is "Post Graduate Diploma in Education", while in the University of Dublin/Trinity College the title remains "Higher Diploma in Education". The current quota for admissions for the programmes is 1,000 annually on these courses in the third level institutions...

Written Answers — Educational Disadvantage: Educational Disadvantage (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: A key focus of the Government's education policy is to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk and to optimise access, participation and outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups. The wide variety of measures in place for tackling educational disadvantage and social exclusion reflect these concerns. These measures range from pre-school interventions,...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy will be aware that recently I announced the schools which are to benefit from the 200 extra language support posts provided for in the 2007 Estimates. These extra 200 posts will bring the total number of language support teachers in our schools to 1,450. These new resources are intended for schools with large numbers of pupils who do not have English as a first language. Under...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the number of PE teachers employed in second level schools is not readily available within my Department. Teacher allocations for second level schools are approved by my Department on an annual basis in accordance with generally applied rules based on recognised pupil enrolments on the 30th of September of the preceding school year. Each...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (6 Mar 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I can inform the Deputy that the pay-scale for an entry grade educational psychologist is in the range of €56,532-€80,263 (8 point scale) depending on the previous experience of the candidate. This pay scale does not include a 10.75% Employers PRSI cost to my Department. Additionally it is estimated that the cost of supporting each psychologist (accommodation, secretarial back-up, IT/...