Results 11,221-11,240 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (19 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have dealt with the matter before. We recommend very clearly to the schools that they should not take on retired teachers for substitute purposes. I said very clearly at the INTO conference in Donegal that the person who hires the retired teacher to come in to substitute is the principal of the school. All the principals in the primary school system are in fact members of the INTO so, if...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (19 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank Senator Moloney for raising the matter. We have moved on this with the director general of the State Examinations Commission but, quite frankly, I moved too late in the day and it had made its their arrangements. I had not realised how well prepared it was in regard to the examinations system. We will be doing it earlier this year because, first and foremost, I wanted to ensure we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (19 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Yes, I will be getting legal advice in this regard. I am not even sure what the practice is as it is devolved to the City of Dublin VEC through the SUSI operation. Since it has been brought to our attention, we will inquire about that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (19 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I cannot respond to the Senator at this stage but we will be looking at that in some detail. The reform of the process for third level education is at a fairly advanced stage at this point. With regard to productivity in the third level sector, quite frankly, we do not know enough about the reality on the ground from the point of view of the Higher Education Authority or the Department of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (19 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I take account of that observation.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (20 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There are three second level projects and five primary school projects which are currently being progressed within the architectural process and that are not included in the five year construction programme. These schools are: Coláiste Abbain, Wexford, (RN71600B); St Brendan's College, Bray, (RN61790D); Scoil Phobail, Clifden, (RN91412M); St Marys NS, Bagnalstown, Co Carlow,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Psychological Assessments (20 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I can inform the Deputy that all primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are on the Department's website. Where a NEPS psychologist is not assigned to a school, authorities therein may...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (20 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The decision on eligibility for new student grant applications from the 2012/13 academic year is a matter for the new centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland). The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the relevant details that would be contained in an individual's application form and supporting documentation, it would not be possible for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (20 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: It is not envisaged that a Minor Works Grant to primary schools will be issued for the school year 2012/2013. At the launch of the Government's Medium Term Infrastructure and Capital Investment Framework last November, I said that the priority in the education sector is to focus on major school projects and smaller projects devolved to schools to meet demographic demands over the next five...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Computerisation Programme Expenditure (20 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department distributed more than €90m in ICT Infrastructure grants to schools in 2009 and 2010. These schemes prioritised the equipping of all classrooms with a digital projector, teaching computer and wireless keyboard and mouse. These ICT Infrastructure grant schemes are now fully disbursed. There are no plans to introduce a new ICT Infrastructure Grant Scheme in 2012 in view of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 133, to 135, inclusive, together. My Department has sought the assistance of, and is working closely with, the relevant Local Authority in relation to identifying and acquiring a suitable site for the school to which the Deputy has referred. Due to commercial sensitivities attaching to site acquisitions generally, it is not possible to comment further on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department has had no correspondence with Kildare Vocational Education Committee or engagement with the Department of Defence in relation to the school to which he refers. There has been a small decrease in enrolments at this school over the past ten years. However, given that the school is in an area which is proximate to areas of growth such as Naas,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Arrangements are currently being made for the appointment of a teacher to a post in the visiting teacher service in County Kerry to replace a visiting teacher for hearing impairment who recently retired. The teacher appointed to the position will be a fully qualified teacher with appropriate qualifications and experience.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm to the Deputy that, further to my earlier reply to him, that the acquisition of a site for a permanent school building for the proposed school referred to by him is currently being progressed by my Department through the Chief State Solicitor's Office in conjunction with the current landowners. When the site has been secured, the building project will be considered for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Breaks Standardisation (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Following extensive discussions, the arrangements for the standardisation of the mid-term, Christmas and Easter breaks for all schools for the school years up to 2013/14 have been agreed with the relevant education partners. The primary aim of the standardisation of these breaks is to bring certainty and clarity to parents, pupils and schools on the arrangements that will apply for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have accepted the recommendations set out in a report commissioned by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on the structures of initial teacher education. The purpose of the report, which I requested, was to identify new possible structures to improve initial teacher education in Ireland so that it is comparable with the best in the world. The international panel of education experts who...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Vocational Education Committees Amalgamation (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In June of 2011, I announced that the Government had approved a revised reconfiguration of the Vocational Education Committees system. The Government decision confirmed that the number of VECs would be reduced to 16 but involves different mergers to those announced by the previous Government. In October 2011 the General Scheme of an Education and Training Boards Bill was referred to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The decision on eligibility for new student grant applications from the 2012/13 academic year is a matter for the new centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland). The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the relevant details that would be contained in an individual's application form and supporting documentation, it would not be possible...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am very conscious that the cost of textbooks is a considerable burden on families. I have met with members of the Irish Educational Publishers' Association and impressed on them the need to limit the cost of textbooks and to avoid placing schools and families in a position where textbooks are altered unnecessarily. The Association agreed a voluntary Code of Practice among their members,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 147 to 149, inclusive, together. The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. My Department is actively engaged with the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) in relation to the transfer of ownership of the property referred to by the Deputy. When the transfer of the site is...