Results 10,161-10,180 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: If parents behaved like this, one would not be able to pick an underage team in any sport in the whole country. Let us not bring it down to that level. I trust the teachers and the parents. It will be good for the students. The students trust the teachers. Their association has said they want assessment by their own teachers. I ask that people look at this fairly, for all the students,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Many young people do not get the full benefit from the education system because we have not moved forward in this area. Again, I ask people to consider what is on offer and I urge that the strike does not go ahead.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Minor Works Scheme Restoration (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I announced the 2014-2015 minor works grant on 25 November. The grant, amounting to €28 million in total, will issue over the coming weeks to all primary schools with permanent recognition. Funding under the grant will continue at existing levels with schools receiving a basic grant of €5,500 plus €18.50 per mainstream pupil and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Minor Works Scheme Restoration (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: November has been generally the time the minor works grant has been announced, in the past two years when there was one. There was no minor works grant in 2012-2013. The grant is issued by the building unit, and is not in the annual calendar of grants circulated by the central funds section. The money is found in the building unit. With a very large capital programme, money that one...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Minor Works Scheme Restoration (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to state categorically that because this grant is being paid, no element of the schools buildings programme will be stalled in any way. I am glad the Deputy welcomes the grant being paid because the schools have certainly welcomed it. It will be useful in all the schools. As the Deputy knows, the five-year schools buildings programme finishes next year and we are now working on the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Private Members' Down's Syndrome (Equality of Access) Bill 2013 has passed Second Stage in the Dáil and has been referred to the Committee on Education and Social Protection. The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education has recommended that a new model for allocating resource teachers to schools be put in place, which proposes that pupils, including...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I acknowledge that Deputy McGrath has campaigned for a long time for, and has taken a particular interest in, children with special educational needs, including those with Down's syndrome. As he indicated, I was able to announce extra resource teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, in the recent budget. They will be provided for schools during the coming year. The NCSE has presented...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I fully agree with Deputy McGrath about schools being inclusive. The admissions to schools Bill, which we will be publishing soon, will involve having a statement from schools saying they welcome children on the grounds of ability or disability. It is important that no barriers should be put in place.

Other Questions: School Curriculum (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department, in conjunction with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, has initiated a major reform of the primary curriculum. This reform will examine the entire curriculum, including its structure and content, to identify areas where revisions or updates are required. One of the aims of this reform is to ensure that the primary curriculum is appropriately structured to...

Other Questions: School Curriculum (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The current curriculum dates back to 1999, so it is time to review it. However, excellent work is going on in primary schools. I have had an opportunity to visit a number of them in recent days and I saw the great dedication of primary school teachers there. I was in a school in Swords in north County Dublin the other day which was receiving a digital schools of distinction award. I have...

Other Questions: School Curriculum (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: On Deputy McGrath's point, my meetings with the Irish Primary Principals' Network, IPPN, and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, NAPD, have underlined the stressful jobs that principals face. We have worked hard on the recovery of the economy and I hope there will be an education dividend. I will fight strongly for extra resources in the education sector. On...

Other Questions: School Funding (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Deputy McGrath is very lucky this morning.

Other Questions: School Funding (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Government's focus in recent years has been on operating a budgetary programme that is designed to return the Government finances to a sustainable basis. I appreciate that the measures taken impacted on schools, including the reduction in capitation, and are not sustainable in the longer term. I regard capitation funding as one of the priority areas to be considered for improved funding...

Other Questions: School Funding (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: On educational disadvantage, we are reviewing the DEIS programme as it has existed for some years. DEIS has done great work but it is time for it to be examined to ensure every element has positive results. Some schools did not qualify for DEIS, particularly schools that did not exist when it was initiated, so the area must be addressed. When I was in Deputy McGrath's position as an...

Other Questions: Broadband Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I appreciate that quality internet connectivity is essential for good teaching and learning using ICT. While great progress has been made at post-primary level, where every school will shortly have a high-speed connection, I am aware that improvement at primary level is slower and is dependent upon market and technological developments. Under the schools broadband access programme, my...

Other Questions: Broadband Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: To give some technical information, the Department is in the process of migrating around 200 schools to next-generation access services that provide minimum download speeds of at least 30 Mbps and up to 100 Mbps, depending on school locations. Speeds are slower in other schools and I acknowledge this. As I said, the strategy will be published shortly. I have seen wonderful things in...

Other Questions: Broadband Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise Deputy Charlie McConalogue that I will meet the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White, in the next week or two to engage on these issues. Approximately 3.5% of primary schools are still on connections of less than 2 MB, of which approximately half are awaiting the installation of improved services of 8 MB or higher. The other half are...

Other Questions: School Absenteeism (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am happy to have my Department facilitate any request from the Department of Social Protection for data sharing to ensure the effective delivery of public services in a manner which is fully compliant with the requirements of the Data Protection Acts. Earlier this year, my officials met with the Department of Social Protection to explore how data on enrolments could be used for...

Other Questions: School Absenteeism (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Our officials will meet with those of the Department of Social Protection in the near future. Educational Welfare Services, which was formerly known as NEWB, is the statutory body for school attendance and is under the remit of Tusla, which is in turn a body within the remit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. We are talking therefore about three Departments and perhaps need to...

Other Questions: School Absenteeism (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Educational welfare officers do a very good job to identify these situations and deal with them. Obviously, we have seen court cases and so on. I take the Deputy's point that we must ensure the best possible co-ordination among the three Departments and I undertake to ensure that the necessary discussions are instigated.