Results 10,181-10,200 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: This has been an issue for a long time, dating back to the Dónal de Buitléir report in the mid-1990s. It was a time when the tax records of the self employed, be they farmers or people with small businesses, were far less accurate and up to date and, I dare say, probably capable of a manipulation then that is not the case now. I accept that the regulatory framework and the taxation and...

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I accept that.

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I welcome the Deputy's comments and his acceptance that in the past things were done differently and in a way that none of us would agree with today. However, we are dealing with the present. I have no wish to introduce a new system of means assessment that is unfair. That is not my intention. It will therefore receive rigorous analysis and scrutiny before we proceed. I recognise the...

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Would it be in order for me to propose that the House accepts Deputy Colreavy?

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Members can set a precedent.

School Uniforms (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme, operated by the Department of Social Protection, provides support for eligible families to assist with the extra costs when their children start school each autumn. As the Deputy is aware, eligibility for the back to school allowance is determined and administered by the Department of Social Protection and is, therefore, primarily a...

School Uniforms (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Deputy.

School Uniforms (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy is asking me to do all I can within my power to alleviate the cost and I will do this. However, my power is somewhat limited. I have already had informal discussions with the National Parents Council at primary level in this regard and in the first instance, I recommend that it should mobilise the parents associations and parents' representatives on boards of management, at both...

Literacy Levels (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There has been extensive analysis of the PISA 2009 results. This includes a recent Educational Research Centre, Drumcondra, report that summarises all of the research the Educational Research Centre, ERC, and experts from Statistics Canada have completed on the achievement of Irish students. The report confirms the possible reasons that were given by the ERC to explain a portion of the...

Literacy Levels (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I share the Deputy's concern. I was in Opposition when the PISA results were first published. The heads of the results were communicated, as they are to all the national departments, in August of that year. Consequent to that information, research was commissioned by the Department. The ERC in Drumcondra also did some work on this. It was suggested that the increase in the number of...

Departmental Agencies (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am responding to this question on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State for Education and Skills, Deputy Ciarán Cannon. Following the Government decision to create SOLAS, an implementation Group was set up to establish it My colleague, Minister of State, Deputy Ciarán Cannon chairs this group, the membership of which includes representatives from the Department of Education and...

Departmental Agencies (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I will respond first to the Deputy's final question because it is the most pertinent. We have, and have had for years, an unstructured, informal and badly co-ordinated further education structure in this country, in respect of which no one in particular is to blame. The system has gone topsy over decades. SOLAS will be to the further education sector what the HEA is the higher education...

Departmental Agencies (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I share the concerns the Deputy expressed and agree with him. The kind of work FÁS did in the 1980s and 1990s is no longer appropriate to the needs of the labour market. The announcement I made on Monday of 6,000 new places for Springboard is much closer to what people actually want because the skills level of the labour market has been improved and the demand from industry for the jobs...

Expenditure Reviews (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: This Government on entering office ordered a comprehensive review of expenditure, whereby Departments reviewed their expenditure programmes in depth. This was done to realign spending with Government priorities, while also seeking expenditure savings, necessitated because of decisions of the past. My Department had to find savings of €76 million in 2012, rising to €379 million in...

Expenditure Reviews (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I welcome the Deputy's comments and am working co-operatively and constructively with my colleague and counterpart in Northern Ireland, who now has responsibility for the same set of responsibilities, including for higher education, as I have. However, Mr. O'Dowd is confronted with different problems. The schoolgoing population of Northern Ireland is declining. The Minister has stated that...

Third Level Courses (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In 2010 there were almost 3,000 graduates from courses in economics, finance, banking, accountancy, insurance and taxation. In addition to programmes in these core skills areas, graduates from many other disciplines also find employment in the sector. Specific funding is also provided by my Department to the Skillnets Finuas networks programme, to develop and deliver specialised training...

Third Level Courses (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I know the Deputy has been working on a plan in this regard. I have not yet seen a copy of the report he has compiled. I ask him to submit it to the Department, if possible, so I can study it.

Third Level Courses (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: We should examine Skillnets and the Finuas financial services programme.

Third Level Courses (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There are vacancies in this sector that cannot be filled. Some of them are being filled by people who are coming from other jurisdictions. That does not make sense at a time when we have a good pool of talented and educated people in the labour market who might not have the specific skills that are required in certain sectors. We should put transition programmes in place very close to the...

Third Level Courses (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Yes.