Results 11,121-11,140 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In the document, Towards a Future Higher Education Landscape, published by the HEA in February last, a clear four stage process and criteria was laid out for institutes of technology who wish to apply for designation as Technological Universities. Stage 1 of the process required consortiums of institutions to submit an expression of interest to HEA within six months. The HEA will, having...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment provided its advice to me on Junior Cycle Reform in late 2011. Since then, consideration has been ongoing in relation to the implementation of reform. Reform will be introduced on a phased basis. There will be a combination of curriculum components including subjects and short courses. Within their junior cycle experience, students will...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In the context of JC reform the NCCA has advised that a portfolio with a weighting of 40% of the marks would be an inherent component of subjects in the revised Junior Certificate. I have accepted the NCCA's advise that a portfolio should be a key element of revised subjects. The implementation of this kind of assessment in the Junior Cycle is a considerable reform and the impact and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports, including Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of such...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: It has been the policy of my Department for some time that only qualified and registered teachers should be employed by schools. This is set out most recently in Circular Letter 31/2011. Current recruitment procedures direct schools to ensure that teachers proposed for appointment to publicly paid posts must be registered with the Teaching Council and have qualifications appropriate to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Labour Court Recommendations (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to inform the Deputy that the consultation process between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and my Department is still ongoing. However, the matter is expected to be concluded in the near future.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy may be aware my Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the Universities and Institutes of Technology. My Department also allocates capital funding to the HEA for disbursement to the sector, while my Department allocates capital funding directly to the Institutes of Technology. A breakdown of funding...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions Entry Requirements (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The entry requirements for third level education courses are determined by individual higher education institutions and the processing of applications is administered by the CAO on their behalf. My Department does not have any role in relation to the operation of the CAO or the admissions policies of third level institutions. Details regarding applying for third level courses, including...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Towards Healing Counselling and Support Service is a Catholic Church Service which provides counselling and related support needs to survivors of abuse by clergy, religious and others working for the Church. As the Deputy will appreciate, my Department has no function in relation to this service. The State funded National Counselling Service, which operates under the auspices of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for the relevant grant awarding authority. The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the relevant details that would be contained in an individual's application in relation to means, residency, nationality and previous academic attainment, it would not be possible for me to say whether or not a student would qualify...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The submission made by the Irish Human Rights Commission will be included in the decision making process for Junior Cycle reform. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment provided its advice to me on Junior Cycle Reform in November 2011. Within that advice is the specification of 24 statements of learning which junior cycle students should learn. Included among these statements are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Council of Ireland (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: It has been the policy of my Department for some time that only qualified and registered teachers should be employed by schools. This is set out most recently in Circular 31/2011. Current recruitment procedures direct schools to ensure that teachers proposed for appointment to publicly paid posts must be registered with the Teaching Council and have qualifications appropriate to the sector...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that my Department has recently authorised the issue of the letter of intent to the recommended contractor. This contractor must now produce certain documentation such as a bond, insurances, tax clearance etc. Subject to receipt of all the required documentation and provided no further issues arise, it is anticipated that the contractor will commence on site...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 415 and 424 together. The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers to other schools that have vacancies. The redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers is key to the Department's ability to manage within its payroll budget and ceiling on teacher numbers. Thereafter, schools are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) are committed to ensuring the efficient and effective spend of all resources within higher education. While it would clearly not be feasible for my Department or the HEA to monitor or approve all individual levels of expenditure within the higher education sector, there are clear accountability and governance procedures in place within...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Course Applications (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 418 and 419 together. I have attached a table showing data on Postgraduate research (1st year enrolments and all postgraduate 1st year enrolments) for the years 2010/11 and 2011/12. The data shows that the number of 1st year Research enrolments (Masters and Phd) increased from 1,862 in 2010/11 to 2,156 in 2011/12 which represents an overall increase of 16%....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Contracts (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The information sought by the Deputy is set out in the following table. Primary Teachers who started Teaching in 2011 Age in 2012 Number of teachers 20 to 23 years of age 1,019 24 to 25 years of age 238 26 to 27 years of age 138 28 to 29 years of age 120 aged 30 and over 312 Total 1,827 This covers teachers employed on a full time, part time and casual basis.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 421 to 423, inclusive, together. In the context of the necessary but difficult expenditure reduction measures announced in Budget 2012, new students entering postgraduate courses from the 2012/13 academic year onwards will not be entitled to maintenance payments under the Student Grant Scheme. The Department, with support and advice from the National...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The decision on eligibility for new student grant applications is a matter for the central grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland). Renewal applications will continue to be dealt with by the existing 66 grant awarding authorities. The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the relevant details that would be contained in an individual's application in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Contracts (18 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 428 to 430, inclusive, together. A total of 5,739 primary, secondary and community/comprehensive teachers retired during the period 1 February 2009 and 29 February 2012 and are currently on my Department's payroll. Two of them are paid their pension by payable order and the salary increase of 01st September 2008 was not included in the calculation of their...