Results 10,121-10,140 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm that the school to which the Deputy refers, has requested capital funding to also replace an additional prefab unit with permanent accommodation under the Prefab Replacement scheme. This further application is being assessed and my Department expects to convey a decision on this application to the school authority shortly.

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The standardisation of the staffing schedule for Gaelscoileanna so that it is the same as that which applies to primary schools generally was one of a number of measures introduced in Budget 2011 by the previous government to control and reduce teacher numbers. These changes came into effect from September 2011. Given the financial constraints in which this country now finds itself, it is not...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Department issued Circular 0012/2012 in March, 2012 which is available on the website, setting out the arrangements for access to the redeployment panels for the 2012/13 school year for eligible registered primary teachers in fixed term, substitute and part-time positions. The closing date for receipt of applications for access to the redeployment panels was 20 April, 2012. My Department...

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. I can inform the Deputy that the Commission operates a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in the Certificate examinations. Applications for such accommodations are submitted by schools on behalf of their students. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As a result of Budget 2012, the school to which the Deputy refers is among 16 out of a total of 328 Rural DEIS schools who will lose 1 teaching post retained under previous disadvantage programmes prior to the introduction of the DEIS Initiative in 2005. These posts were retained in these schools in addition to classroom teacher posts and other supports that are allocated to all DEIS...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department has participated in various internship programmes such as the FÁS Work Placement Programme, Jobbridge – the National Internship Programme run by FÁS and the Willing Able and Mentoring programme run by the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability. The Department recently completed a FÁS Work Placement and currently have three individuals working under the...

Written Answers — School Patronage: School Patronage (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The assessment of the applications received for patronage of the new 2nd level schools concerned is ongoing. It is expected that a report will be ready shortly for consideration by the New Schools Establishment Group, who will in turn make recommendations to me for consideration and final decision.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning and the Stage 2(b) submission (Detailed Design) was approved by the Departments Planning and Building Unit on 30th November 2011. The project was not included in the 2012 construction programme announced in December 2011. For purposes of the 5 Year Plan announced in March...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Following the Report on the net impact of Budget 2012 on DEIS urban schools, 140 will now 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. Six schools in the areas mentioned by the Deputy are included in this category. As the Deputy may be aware, a range of factors contribute...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A circular governing recruitment of teachers was issued last May. This circular sets out to ensure, as far as possible, that people appointed to teach are registered teachers with qualifications appropriate to the sector and suitable to the post for which they are employed and that unemployed teachers are offered employment in preference to those who have retired. The data in my Department in...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Circular 31/2011 details a cascade of measures for recruitment of teachers, prioritising unemployed registered teachers over retired registered teachers and registered teachers over unregistered persons. Each principal must report to his or her board of management on a regular basis on the fact that a list of unemployed registered teachers is being maintained, and the circumstances in which...

Written Answers — Languages Programme: Languages Programme (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 280 and 281 together. As the Deputy is aware a 2008 Report by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) identified serious issues with curricular overload at primary level. The NCCA's advice recommended that, for the present, modern languages should not be part of the Primary School Curriculum as an additional and separate subject. The primary...

Written Answers — Teaching Qualifications: Teaching Qualifications (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The eligibility terms for access to the supplementary panel are based on a teacher's service in the primary school system in a fixed term, substitute and part-time capacity. There are no plans to expand these arrangements to include teaching experience in schools outside of Ireland. The detailed arrangements are set out in my Department's Circular 0012/2012 which is available on my...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The grant referred to by the Deputy is not paid by my Department directly to a person providing accommodation. Rather it is paid to the parents of the qualifying child. It is the responsibility of parents to ensure that the accommodation which they secure for their child is of an acceptable standard. My Department has no role in relation to setting down minimum standards for accommodation,...

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. The State Examinations Commission operates a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in the Certificate examinations. Applications for such accommodations are submitted by schools on behalf of their students. Full details of the scheme is available for downloading from...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 286, 287 and 293 together. The July Education Programme (July provision) allows schools to open for the month of July, to accommodate pupils with severe and profound educational needs, and children with autism. This is in response to concerns that children with autism and severe educational needs can regress over the summer due to the loss of structured...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning and the Stage 2(b) submission (Detailed Design) was approved by the Departments Planning and Building Unit on 30th November 2011. The project was not included in the 2012 construction programme announced in December 2011. For purposes of the 5 Year Plan announced in March...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: To satisfy the terms and conditions of the student grant scheme in relation to progression, a student must be moving from year to year within a course having successfully completed the previous year or be transferring from one course to another where the award for the subsequent course is of a higher level than the previous course. The objective of this policy is to help as many students as...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy is referring to the change in the qualifying distance criterion for the non-adjacent rate of grant which was introduced by the previous Fianna Fáil - Green party Government under Budget 2011. The economic circumstances of the country are such that I regret that I am not in a position to reverse or vary any of the changes to the student grant scheme in relation to the qualifying...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (22 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested is not readily available and it would require a considerable commitment of time and staffing resources to compile such a listing. I do, however, have information to hand in relation to the number of retired members of my Department's staff that were re-hired in 2011 and during the first quarter of 2012. In all 15 retired staff were re-hired in 2011 and 4 were...