Results 10,281-10,300 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: It is not.

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have to disagree with the former Minister for Education's analysis, given his familiarity with the legislation he introduced in 1998. Career guidance is provided in schools. Resources have been altered.

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Principals have been given discretion to deploy-----

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The new circular has been communicated to all schools underlining and repeating the obligations under the legislation in respect of the provision of a school career guidance service. This will continue to be the case.

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The draft heads of the education and training boards Bill, to replace the VECs, have been circulated and discussed by the relevant Oireachtas committee. I am hoping to take Second Stage before the end of this session. We hope to have the SOLAS Bill, to replace FÁS, published by the end of the year. The intention is to try to meet the 1 January 2013 deadline for the legislation to be...

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy's exaggerated comments warrant a discussion on the circular within the context of the Education Act 1998. It is a matter for the Whips to decide when and how we should have this discussion.

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Comptroller and Auditor General's report is to be discussed at the Cabinet and it will be for the Minister for Finance to bring forward a recommendation based on that report, which is in the public domain. The fiscal responsibility Bill will be taken this session.

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: 73 small primary schools were originally due to lose a classroom teacher in September 2012 as a result of the budget measure to increase the relevant pupil thresholds. The Staffing Appeals Board considered appeals from any of the 73 schools that could show that their projected enrolments for September 2012 were sufficient to allow them retain their classroom teacher over the longer term. 35...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 131 and 150 together. The schools referred to by the Deputies have an application with my Department for capital funding for a major school project. In view of the need to ensure that every child has access to a school place, the delivery of major school projects required to meet demographic demand will be the main focus for capital investment in the coming...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is awaiting appointment of a design team and the commencement of architectural planning. The next step required will be a tender competition for appointment of the design team. To ensure that every child has access to a school place, the delivery of projects to meet the increasing demographic demands will be the main focus for...

Written Answers — Bullying in Schools: Bullying in Schools (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy is aware, the Anti-Bullying Forum, which was held on Thursday 17th May, brought together a range of experts, support groups and representatives of the schools sector including parents and students. I was very pleased to open this important Forum and to provide an opportunity to explore with all the relevant stakeholders how best to tackle bullying in schools and to consider what...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the deputy is aware, the Forward Planning Section of my Department utilises a Geographical Information System (GIS) to analyse demographic data in order to determine the areas where additional school accommodation may be required. A variety of sources are used in this analysis, including census data, school enrolment data, and child benefit data obtained from the Department of Social...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Under my Department's most recent ICT Infrastructure Grant Scheme, all DEIS schools received an additional block grant of €850 on top of the standard grant allocations for primary and post primary schools. This Scheme (which was non-discretionary) was fully allocated between November 2009 and December 2010. It is not currently possible, in our challenging fiscal context, to provide for a...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The major building project referred to by the Deputy is currently at an early stage of architectural planning. To ensure that every child has access to a school place, the delivery of projects to meet the increasing demographic demands will be the main focus for capital investment over the next 5 years, particularly in those areas where it has been identified that most future demographic...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm that my Department has received correspondence from the school, referred to by the Deputy, in relation to the matter to which the Deputy refers. The matter can be considered further on receipt of the additional information requested by my Department from the school authority concerned.

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The partial redundancy in respect of the person referred to by the Deputy will be paid on 7th June 2012.

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There will be a new income threshold for the payment referred to by the Deputy, which will be lower than the standard grant threshold. The income threshold for this level of grant is currently being determined in the context of the formulation of the Student Grant Scheme for the 2012/13 academic year which I expect to be in a position to publish shortly.

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: This Government has protected education as much as it can. Far greater reductions in expenditure and in the number of public servants are being made in other sectors relative to those in schools. But there are limits to the level of expenditure on education and the number of teaching posts we can afford. The Budget 2012 measures in relation to the post-primary sector are set out in the...

Written Answers — Student Residential Accommodation: Student Residential Accommodation (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Department of Education and Skills has no involvement in the matters referred to by the Deputy. The Deputy may wish to consult the College Authorities directly.

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The focus in schools is on using ICT (a) as a tool in learning and (b) to improve the quality of teaching and learning across the curriculum, guided by the ICT curriculum framework developed by the NCCA. This framework is supported by extensive digital resources on the Scoilnet website, by professional development programmes for teachers and by investment in ICT infrastructure. All post...