Results 11,241-11,260 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Other Questions: Schools Inspections (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The main issue the Deputy has raised is the physical structure of the school buildings. A new five-year capital programme will be announced in the middle of this year. In advance of that, I will be considering the condition of school buildings around the country. I want to secure the most funding I can for this capital programme. Despite the economic difficulties, the Deputy will...

Other Questions: Schools Inspections (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: They are not stopped from suggesting there might be physical infrastructure problems but it is not a core part of their function to examine the physical infrastructure. A lot of the money that was in the last five-year plan was allocated to address demographic factors and therefore to schools for children in areas of growing population. I understand we will have more funding in the next...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: At present, all schools are encouraged to use education plans. The departmental inspectorate's advice is that the majority of schools are now using some form of individual education planning for children with special needs. In line with circular 30 of 2014, schools are required to put in place a personal pupil plan including a care plan for all pupils availing of SNA support. In light...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: On the preschool year again, there is a cross-departmental group established by the Minister, Deputy Reilly, who has responsibility for the funding of the free preschool year. My responsibility is for the educational content of the early years and I have a number of measures in that regard, which I outlined in answer to an earlier question. There are no special needs assistants in preschool....

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: On the question of money, in the last budget, for example, there was a considerable increase in the number of resource teachers and special needs assistants. That has been the case for a number of years and I am sure it will be the case again next year. As the Deputy knows, the National Council for Special Education has put forward a proposed new model of allocation of resources. We...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am glad the Deputy acknowledged we brought the numbers back up. When explaining that we would not introduce the new model this year, I announced that we would have a sort of one-stop-shop in regard to these kinds of supports. Therefore, the NEPS, the National Council for Special Education and other supports available will all be in the one area and people will not have to move around...

Other Questions: Education Standards (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: While no specific assessment, as referred to by the Deputy - although she did not use the term "austerity" in her question - has been done we measure education standards through published national and international assessment and monitoring of standards. In this regard, I have welcomed the recently published report on the 2014 national assessments of English reading and mathematics, which...

Other Questions: Education Standards (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: In the last two years, teacher numbers are up by 2,300 posts and the number of SNAs and resource teachers is up by 1,700. For the first time, we had an increase in the overall education budget last October. That is an indication of progress. We have gone through very difficult times, but we have turned the corner. Perhaps that indicates that some credit should be given to the Government...

Other Questions: Education Standards (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: No matter how often the Deputy repeats that mantra, we have had extra teachers and SNAs-----

Other Questions: Education Standards (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: -----and for the first time, we have seen progress in terms of international measures, in mathematics and English in particular. We have reached targets now that we were not supposed to reach until 2020. We have also been improving in terms of retention figures in schools, the number of young people who stay on until the leaving certificate. It is all very well to keep repeating these...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department's policy is to promote a child-centred approach to education of all children with special educational needs including those with autism. This approach is based on advice received from international experts on autism, NEPS, the Inspectorate and the report of the Irish Task Force on Autism. The National Council Special Education (NCSE) is currently at an advanced stage in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Momentum Programme (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The awarding of travel allowances to participants on the Momentum Programme was discussed between my Department, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform when the programme was being designed. However, in order to ensure the greatest provision of much needed places on the programme with the available financial resources, it was decided that no...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under the existing allocation system, all pupils with Down syndrome, including pupils with mild general learning difficulties, are entitled to receive additional teaching support. Support is provided from a school's General Allocation Model (GAM) hours, or from an allocation of additional resource teacher hours allocated to schools by the NCSE. In the current school year my Department has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Mental Health Strategies (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My department has provided guidelines to post-primary, and more recently to primary schools, offering practical assistance and advice on the development of structures to promote positive mental health in schools and in assisting pupils with mental health difficulties. The guidelines advise that in the event of pupils presenting with mental health difficulties which are above and beyond...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Following on from the Apprenticeship Review, an Apprenticeship Implementation Plan was published last year. The Implementation Plan sets out a phased approach, recognising the need to progress work on existing apprenticeships, determine demand from new enterprise sectors through a call for proposals, develop the new apprenticeships and then embed new governance arrangements in legislation....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Facilities (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The HEA are currently working on a draft report on student accommodation which will be available in early April and will give us an up to date picture of the situation. Some institutions provide a range of accommodation, and all colleges have an obligation to work with students' unions and other groups, to provide students with details on accommodation options. Initiatives such as USI's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Data Protection (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The legal basis for sharing the pupil data between schools and the Department is as laid out in Section 28 of the Education Welfare Act, which provides for the sharing of data for the purposes outlined in the act. Section 28 of the Education Welfare Act 2000 allows for personal data to be transferred between the Minister for Education and Skills, recognised schools, the National Council...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under the existing allocation system, all pupils with Down syndrome, including pupils with mild general learning difficulties, are entitled to receive additional teaching support. Support is provided from a school's General Allocation Model (GAM) hours, or from an allocation of additional resource teacher hours allocated to schools by the NCSE. In the current school year my Department has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Schools are not permitted to discriminate against an applicant for admission on any of the nine grounds set out in the Equal Status Act. However, the equality legislation makes provision for exemptions to apply in the case of single sex schools and in the case of schools where the objective is to provide education in an environment that promotes certain religious values. The legislation...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Industrial Disputes (3 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The full text of Dr Travers' proposal document is available on my Department's website. Both sides were asked to confirm whether they accepted or rejected this as a basis for agreement. While the proposal put forward by Dr Travers requires significant further compromise on my part, I indicated to Dr Travers that I am prepared to accept it as a basis for agreement. In doing so I...