Results 11,341-11,360 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. The State Examinations Commission operates a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in the Certificate examinations. Applications for such accommodations are submitted by schools on behalf of their students. Full details of the scheme are available for downloading...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that officials from my Department are currently working closely with officials from Galway County Council in relation to the acquisition of a suitable site to facilitate the provision of a new school building for the school to which he refers. I can confirm that the site acquisition process is advancing. When the site has been acquired, officials from my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Abuse Reports (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The primary statutory responsibility for child protection lies with the Child and Family Agency. My Department has no role in assessing or investigating child protection concerns. Its role is to refer any allegations it receives to the appropriate authorities and to do so without making judgment on same. There is no requirement on the school authorities to report to the Department allegations...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Labour Court Recommendations (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Implementation of the Labour Court Recommendation cannot be considered separately as an internal job evaluation exercise carried out by Price Waterhouse Coopers was intended to establish the correct rate of pay for the grades in the Tyndall National Institute. At the outset the parties agreed that the conclusions of the job evaluation exercise could be appealed on an individual basis to an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Appointments to State Boards (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The information requested by the Deputy is provided in the table. For the Deputy's information, under revised procedures put in place in late 2014, the process for filling vacancies on State boards under the aegis of the Department, through ministerial appointment or nomination, is now normally managed by the Public Appointments Service (PAS), whereby applications are made through the...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I welcome the opportunity to discuss the 2015 Estimate with the committee. My officials provided some background briefing material for the committee, so I propose to keep this opening statement brief. However, I am happy, together with Minister of State, Deputy English, to provide further details as we work our way through the various programmes that make up the Estimate. Expenditure in...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: They are covered later in the capital programmes.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Will I answer now or wait?

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will reply directly to Deputy O'Brien. He is correct. The figure is €8.5 million. The saving is actually €3.3 million, but we bring in the demographics as well.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Deputy O'Brien raised the issue of NEPS psychologists yesterday during Question Time. He indicated, as did I, that there was an increase in numbers. He asked about the position for people who were out sick and so on. I do not actually have that information and I will have to come back to him on that. Deputy O'Brien will appreciate that this information is changing constantly.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Yes, it is.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: In terms of the numbers, the target is to assign a NEPS psychologist to all ordinary national and second level schools in the 2014-2015 school year. The target number of psychologists is 173, and there are currently 168 employed. A panel is in place and the Public Appointments Service is currently working through the appointment process to bring the number employed to 173.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will provide further information on that. We have seconded a number of teachers to NEPS recently, to cover maternity leave absences. These teachers have the necessary qualifications and expertise to deliver the service. Obviously, they are teachers rather than psychologists, but we are doing something to fill that gap. On the new model, we are working currently on how to design the...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: That relates to the capital budget.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I agree that the update on the numeracy and literacy was very good news and demonstrated the first significant improvement in many years. As a result, and because we have already reached the targets for 2020, I have brought forward the review of the strategy, and that will happen this year. I want to focus on areas in which we need to make further progress, particularly DEIS schools. While...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy knows, I was very disappointed that the leaders of the teaching unions did not accept the independent recommendations of Mr. Travers. The Deputy mentioned the roll-out of the science programme. One of recommendations made by Mr. Travers was that we should delay the roll-out of that programme. I am willing to accept that recommendation as part of the totality of his report....

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The understanding when Mr. Travers was appointed and when he made his recommendations was that they would be the basis for agreement and that we could engage in further discussion on their implementation. I am happy to do that, but it must be on the basis that the central recommendations, such as the suspension of industrial action and some element of assessment in the classroom, are on the...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Guidance is a general issue as well. The Minister of State, Deputy English, is correct in stating that we need to look at an overall strategy in that regard. I have stated in various forums that there are many demands in the education sector in terms of what we will do with more funding when we have it. It is one of the areas that needs to be considered in terms of an overall strategy. ...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will respond to Deputy McConalogue on the general issues around the funding of higher education. As the Deputy knows, my predecessor, Deputy Quinn, established an expert group under the chairmanship of Mr. Peter Cassells to look at the future funding of higher education, and I expect the expert group to report to me some time this year. That group is working on the options for the future...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (Revised) (4 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am not sure of the exact date but it is relatively recent. The 1% cut is coming to an end but it is in place for coming year. The student contribution increases are coming to an end once it reaches the figure of €3,000. The €25 million has been restored to the HEA. We expect the higher education institutions to live within the framework for the next year. The expert...