Results 11,401-11,420 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: We are still studying the report. The decision to mainstream, where possible, pupils with behavioural or special educational needs into the classroom has a consequence for the rest of the class. Also, teachers were not traditionally trained to deal with such issues and that will form part of continual professional development as well as part and parcel of the new formation for primary...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I agree with Deputy Finian McGrath's last point. It is one of the issues that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and I have discussed, that is, at what point can one start to interact with the school. Many of the children arrive in school with problems that have originated from outside. We must recognise that and look at what the National Education Welfare...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I will take a detailed look at these reports and the specific recommendations and seek advice from the specialists and the generalists in the Department of Education and Skills.

Other Questions: Teachers' Remuneration (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, the Croke Park agreement was negotiated by the previous Government and this Government has consistently indicated that it will continue to abide by its terms. This agreement has to be seen in its proper context. In fairness to all involved, both unions and successive Governments, it has delivered industrial peace following from the introduction of the pension...

Other Questions: Teachers' Remuneration (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Social partnership and the kind of structured agreements that we have had have by and large been good for this country over many years. They were abused and misused in the latter days of the Celtic tiger madness but as a principal way of doing business in a mixed economy like ours, it is a better way to go than the adversarial way which characterised industrial relations in the past. There...

Other Questions: Teachers' Remuneration (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I agree with the Deputy that in the post-primary education sector, in particular, the nature and quality of employment for teachers who teach a range of subjects, as distinct from primary school teachers who are teaching young children and more holistic in their overall educational approach, are problematic. The nature of the contractual relationship between the employer bodies and secondary...

Other Questions: Teachers' Remuneration (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: If there is a successor agreement, the lead person will, undoubtedly, be my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, because any agreement will involve more than just the education sector. I cannot anticipate or predict what shape or form it is likely to take. The only thing about which I am hopeful - I encourage all involved - is that there will be...

Topical Issue Debate: Fee Paying Schools (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank Deputies Charles Flanagan and Eoghan Murphy for raising this sensitive issue. I welcome the opportunity to clarify the position on it. fee-charging schools do not receive capitation grants from the Department. Teacher allocations are approved annually in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolments. The most favourable staffing arrangements at...

Topical Issue Debate: Fee Paying Schools (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Much of the information is being given to us from the schools on condition that a certain degree of confidentiality is maintained. I have to consider that request if we are to have a meaningful discussion on the issue prior to the budget. The programme for Government contains a commitment to a provision for diversity in the education system. There is diversity in many directions dating...

Topical Issue Debate: Property Services Regulation (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality. Property management agents are regulated by the Property Services Regulatory Authority, PSRA. The Minister for Justice and Equality established the authority on a statutory basis on 3 April 2012. The main function of the authority is to control and regulate property services providers, that is, auctioneers, estate...

Topical Issue Debate: Property Services Regulation (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I can understand the Deputy's frustration. I am here on behalf of the Department of Justice and Equality and what I have in front of me is entitled Notice of Matter for the Adjournment. We abolished matters on the Adjournment at the start of this Dáil session and they are now called Topical Issues. The reply states clearly that the topic is the enforcement of company law in relation...

Topical Issue Debate: Property Services Regulation (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There is a shared responsibility for the vagueness of the reply.

Topical Issue Debate: Property Services Regulation (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The response was not specific to the case described by Deputy Lyons. I will draw the attention of the Department of Justice and Equality to the facts outlined by the Deputy and ask it to provide a comprehensive response outlining the rights and safeguards available to his constituent in everyday English, as distinct from a litany of legalese and a set of a steps that could only be followed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The number of new appointees paid for the first time on the Department's payrolls in the period from the first of January 2011 to the 5th December 2011 was one thousand six hundred and two primary teachers and one thousand eight hundred and eleven teachers in secondary and community/ comprehensive schools. The figures in the period from the 6th December 2011 to the 31st January 2012 were...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am fully aware of the seriousness of the issue of bullying and it was for that reason that an Anti-Bullying Forum was held in May this year. As a follow on to that Forum, I invited the stakeholders and any other interested parties to submit their views on this important topic to my Department by 29th June 2012. As part of this consultation, interested parties were requested to indicate...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The issue of the use of temporary contracts in the teaching profession and the numbers who are on temporary or short term contracts at post primary level has been the subject of much comment and debate. My Department has committed to a process of engagement with teacher unions and management bodies to explore the scale of this issue, causal factors and options for future developments.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The context for any discussion about class sizes is that my Department, like all other Government Departments, is operating within a budgetary programme that is designed to return the Government finances to a sustainable basis. My focus is on ensuring we have school places and teachers for all the additional pupils entering our schools each year. There is no scope to give any...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I do not propose to give any specific commitment on future budgetary decisions. This is a matter that I will have to consider with my colleagues in Cabinet in the context of the next budget and meeting our obligations under the EU/IMF Programme. The government will of course try to ensure all budget decisions are as fair and equitable as possible but I cannot give specific commitments here...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 66 and 70 together. As I have indicated earlier, it is neither possible nor appropriate to attempt to separate measures such as those impacting on the pay of new entrants from their context. These measures have to be viewed against the backdrop of a very serious financial and budgetary situation. They reflect a position where this country has lost its...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations Issues (9 Oct 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. They have provided me with the following information on this matter. There are a wide range of oral tests. The tests in each language are recorded by examiners onto cassette tapes supplied by the State Examinations Commission. However, the SEC does not supply...